Reading Contemporary British Poetry

In the last few days I've read Robin Robertson's new collection 'The Wrecking Light' and John Burnside's most recent collection 'The Hunt in the Forest'.

In the next few months I'm looking forward to Walcott's new collection 'White Egrets' and Sam Willett's debut collection 'New Light for the Old Dark' from Cape. The latter I imagine will win the 2010 Forward first collection prize - beating even mine, should it get short-listed!

I was pleased to see Walcott expressing a preference for comprehensible poetry in the Times recently. One of the things I've liked about Willett's poems so far is just how readable they are. In some ways their descriptive quality reminds me of the early work of Douglas Dunn. In the year my own collection is due out, I hope these are signs of a move back towards greater lucidity in contemporary British poetry.

Comments

  1. Michelle11 February 2010 at 11:28

    I'm thrilled Robin Robertson has a new collection out. The Wrecking Light is on my booklist for the end of the month.

    ReplyDelete

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