This is great – could you do more of these, do you reckon? Maybe one a month...? I would LOVE to keep up with new poets and poetry and this would be a great means of discovery. What if you did one of these a month + an introduction to a forgotten poet?
I’m genuinely surprised and delighted how popular this is proving! Once a month might be possible — or maybe every 2 months (why don’t have a good word for a 2-monthly interval in English?) And I am always up for forgotten poets, although tbh once you get beyond the Big Names that’s about 80% of my book shelves…
I loved this. As I was reading, I tried to guess which ones (or which lines), if any, would “stick” — would still be in my head a day or week or year later, per that lovely quote from Turgenev.
I suspect that it will be the last two, but especially the last, and the lines/phrases “when everyone preferred the closeness of coffeeshops” and the “moon-trained” waves. I like how “closeness” can express here either people being close to each other or stuffiness/airlessness (or both), as opposed to the solitude and freshness of a beach in a cold season.
Will reread them all tomorrow and see what that read leaves behind.
“Closeness” is wonderful, isn’t it? The more I think about it, the more it stays with me. I too read it differently on the second read than on the first. On the first read, it seemed a striking word choice for some idea of companionship or nearness, and a lovely way of contrasting that — and a desire for that —with an open beach and the desire for that. The second read made it richer and more ambiguous, with the overtones of stuffiness. And there is more… closeness is so complex, in a cafe among strangers! Thanks so much for this.
I wouldn’t be surprised — they did that with the selection for children a few years ago. As I remember, though, SS may have set the precedent for this by shuffling them around herself.
Wonderful playlist and I am looking forward to The Fall - there's a poet.
I once did a 'mix tape' on Spotify, 45 mins 'each side' C90 and each subsequent tune had to have a word from the previous song's title, starting at random with the first thing that comes to mind. Now there's an idea for a poem mix tape.mmmm. I think I will look for poems with Fall in the title first. Thank you as ever. Adam.
This is great – could you do more of these, do you reckon? Maybe one a month...? I would LOVE to keep up with new poets and poetry and this would be a great means of discovery. What if you did one of these a month + an introduction to a forgotten poet?
I’m genuinely surprised and delighted how popular this is proving! Once a month might be possible — or maybe every 2 months (why don’t have a good word for a 2-monthly interval in English?) And I am always up for forgotten poets, although tbh once you get beyond the Big Names that’s about 80% of my book shelves…
Thank you.
My favourite is Isabel Galleymore’s Animal Product, but then Oluwaseun Olayiwola's Coast hit me - which a bonus track has a habit of doing.
Thank you for sharing these - I’m going to read them over and over, I can feel it.
I loved this feature too. And yes in two months you just have to somehow shoehorn Mark E Smith in!
I loved this. As I was reading, I tried to guess which ones (or which lines), if any, would “stick” — would still be in my head a day or week or year later, per that lovely quote from Turgenev.
I suspect that it will be the last two, but especially the last, and the lines/phrases “when everyone preferred the closeness of coffeeshops” and the “moon-trained” waves. I like how “closeness” can express here either people being close to each other or stuffiness/airlessness (or both), as opposed to the solitude and freshness of a beach in a cold season.
Will reread them all tomorrow and see what that read leaves behind.
Yes, 'closeness' suddenly interested me on re-reading, a revealing word disguised as a mundane one. Let me know what sticks!
“Closeness” is wonderful, isn’t it? The more I think about it, the more it stays with me. I too read it differently on the second read than on the first. On the first read, it seemed a striking word choice for some idea of companionship or nearness, and a lovely way of contrasting that — and a desire for that —with an open beach and the desire for that. The second read made it richer and more ambiguous, with the overtones of stuffiness. And there is more… closeness is so complex, in a cafe among strangers! Thanks so much for this.
Off topic, but I think Faber have moved Smith's sketches around in that book - some aren't with their poems. Grumble grumble.
I wouldn’t be surprised — they did that with the selection for children a few years ago. As I remember, though, SS may have set the precedent for this by shuffling them around herself.
Aha. Let's hope it's just a different version... I think they were hoping for a Smith rerun of the Wendy Cope's Orange TikTok blow up.
Like 'Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis', 'Wendy Cope's Orange TikTok Blow-Up' is a great title
Inspired. Also great name for an experimental jazz group.
Thank you so much for the magical gift of 'Coast' and path into the work of Oluwaseun Olayiwola.
Glad you enjoyed it, Sue!
Wonderful playlist and I am looking forward to The Fall - there's a poet.
I once did a 'mix tape' on Spotify, 45 mins 'each side' C90 and each subsequent tune had to have a word from the previous song's title, starting at random with the first thing that comes to mind. Now there's an idea for a poem mix tape.mmmm. I think I will look for poems with Fall in the title first. Thank you as ever. Adam.
Thanks, Adam! WH Auden, The Fall of Rome…?
The poignancy of Mrs Arbuthnot. A lovely selection.