Richard III manages to be at once resounding royal propaganda and an unsettling reminder of the fragility of the status quo given Elizabeth I’s lack of an heir: the Tudors had rescued the kingdom from the murderous House of York, but they hadn’t secured the future for long.
Alex Josephy finds that Pat Farrington’s poems take a realistic rather than an overly romantic look at nature
Emma Lee praises Jason Lee’s collection as an excellent example of Eyewear’s distinctive house style
Poems in this collection by Owen Lewis make a lasting impression on Wendy French
Wendy French is happy to follow where Siobhan Campbell’s poetry leads the way
Shining Like Clara Bow: Brian Docherty celebrates an overdue first collection from performance poet Alice Denny
Merryn Williams considers books by two poets with vivid imaginations which they use in different ways: Andrew Wynn Owen veers towards mythology while Rennie Parker finds anarchy closer to everyday life.
Authority on literature Terry Eagleton tells us tragedy is unfashionable: “Its tone is too solemn and portentous for a streetwise, sceptical culture”. If that’s true now, it was also true in 1641 when James Shirley’s finest work was one of the last plays staged in England before Oliver Cromwell’s solemn ban on theatre.
Richie McCaffery is pleased to have a chance to get better acquainted with D M Black’s poetry
. Kate Saffin & Heather Wastie commemorate the lives of women recruited to work on Britain’s canals during World War 2
Perspectives on Poetry: John Lucas examines three recent studies exploring the craft and ideas of three eminent poets .
Emma Lee appreciates the new points of view offered by John Duffy’s poetry
By Michael Bartholomew-Biggs • books, poetry reviews, year 2017 • Tags: books, Emma Lee, poetry