Spending time among firs and mountains in sub-zero Nordic conditions puts poetry competitions blessedly out of mind, and in touch with what makes poetry sing originally - the elements confronted by the human body. Returning to London, I attended the TS Eliot awards tonight, and was pleased to hear that my favourite poetry collection of 2010, White Egrets, won. It is to be hoped The Guardian fixes its link soon, as there was no poet Brian Roberston up for an award, but rather Robin Robertson.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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good to hear from you.
I have tried to send a couple of emails, but they all returned to me. I don't know what the problem is.
Anyaway... now I find your blog and it is among my favorite ones.
Unfortunatelly, I had to stop my research for a while because of some private problems.
But I am ready to go over it again now.
I was thinking of spending some time up there, in Canada. It will facilitate my research, since it is hard to get the bibliographical material here in Brazil, but I don't have enough financial support for that.
Do you think I could get any scholarship for that?
Also, it will be a great pleasure to meet you in person.
Let's stay in touch. If you feel like, you can answer to my new email address:
maysa.dourado@uol.com.br
or
maysacristina@hotmail.com
Best regards, Maysa.
This is a decision that no one can possibly argue with. Derek Walcott had his 81st birthday a couple of days ago and is still writing poetry at the very summit of his powers. What a wonderful birthday present for him!
Best wishes from Simon