Poetry South

Coming from both new and established writers this collection includes informative notes from the contributors giving an insight into their working methods and how particular poems have evolved. This collection passionately reveals that poetry remains a potent force on the southern arts scene, whilst providing a valuable document in promoting contemporary poetry to an ever wider audience. Charles Simic considered that poetry 'was the cats' choir that sat beneath the window of the room in which the official view of history was being written'. Sit down and listen. Sit down and wail. Ron Silliman wrote of his own work that he did not seek a synthesis but a melee.This collection offers just that - a melee and one that provides us with a unique starting point in celebrating the diversity of contemporary poetry being written in the south. It presents new work from fifteen of the south's liveliest writers. Some names here are familiar, many long established, indeed revered, Jackie Wills, John Agard, Brendan Cleary and Catherine Smith but others are new to us reflecting the evolving face of a vibrant, if disparate, southern poetry scene. Over many years the familiar names have had a significant impact on the direction of new writing and this volume is testament to their long standing support and enthusiasm. Within we find the sonnet, villanelles, free verse, prose poetry, a double haiban, the comic, the political, autobiographical, elegaic and the surreal.Subjects include a Breton wedding dress, an empty train, the most beautiful man on Spetse and cricket, whilst our surroundings find us in a hospital, in a shed, in Sussex, Toledo, Poland, Greece, Zimbabwe and Old Kasa. With this collection comes a set of contributors' notes that provide a unique insight into the way the poets think about their work, what stimuli trigger that initial urge to write, how a poem evolves, and what force moves the idea forward. The comments are rich, often passionate and provide a wonderful backdrop against which to enjoy the poems.