History and place, Judi Sutherland's Following Teisa

As Judi Sutherland mentions in the introduction to her new book-length, beautifully illustrated poem, Following Teisa (The Book Mill Press, 2021), rivers have long played an important role in U.K. poetry. From Wordsworth to Oswald, water in general is perhaps more present and prevalent as a symbol, an image, a leitmotif or even a theme in itself than in other countries. This might well because the poets in question are living on an island or in a dodgy climate, of course. However, leaving aside attempts at cod psychology, the fact remains that Sutherland is acknowledging and tapping into a rich seam.

History and the significance of place are both important cornerstones of this collection. The title itself, for instance, references an 18^th Century long poem about the River Tees which was titled Teisa, Sutherland explores our relationship with the evolving role of our surroundings. In doing so, her perspective is also crucial, as explained in the following extract from the introduction:

…I moved to Teesdale in 2014 and felt dreadfully homesick for my previous village near the Thames. I started walking by the Tees as a way of getting to know and love my new environment and decided to repeat Anne Wilson’s poetic journey for a different generation…

In other words, Sutherland engages as an outsider. There’s no forced attempt at vernacular, for instance. Instead, she invites us along on her own exploration of the River Tees, portraying it in language that’s both rich yet deft, as is indicated by the opening lines to the poem itself:

How it wells up from nowhere to chase
gravity downhill, becomes a rill,
a rickle of old stones, then hurtles rocks,
purls and pools in reed…

There’s huge skill present here, not just in the assonance, alliteration and internal rhyme, but in the precise way it’s all patterned and  interlinked, one device starting before the previous one has come to an end: downhill-rill/rill-rickle/rickle-hurtle/hurtle-purls/purls-pools. The effect is to mirror the onrushing movement of water.

In thematic terms, the poem also evokes tensions between manmade features and the natural world. Here’s one such instance:

…Below the concrete dam, a dry spillway,
while the river is re-birthed – an indignity
of outfall – with barely time to find its feet before
tumbling at forty-five degrees, a whitewater
staircase with a grand balustrade of columned rock.

Those tensions are then placed in historical context, starting from the point of departure of the allusive title and stretching throughout the book. Some references are closer to the present day…

…Once, a whole wartime platoon
of lowland men was washed away,
with their bridge pontoons, at Barne…

Others, meanwhile, engage with a more distant past:

...Above the town, a stand of pines on a barrow,
Bronze Age elders whose watchful eyes
follow. Turn around, you’ll swear they’ve shifted
in their rootball, their wooden footfall
silent on the hill. In comes the Lune
from its lonely dale, escaping the broad dams
of Selset and Grassholme...

Throughout Following Teisa, Judi Sutherland portrays the interaction of the River Tess with people over the course of history. Her achievement in this poem lies in her ability to carry us along and immerse us in her psychogeographic exploration, inviting us to reassess our own surrounding and their own significance in our lives, all this on top of bringing us a book that’s a gorgeous object in itself. Thoroughly recommended! 

Acumen's Guest Poem

I'm chuffed to report that my poem Translator, Traitor is now being featured on Acumen's website. It was first printed in Issue 101 and is one of this week's Guest Poems. You can read it via this link.

Evangeline Paterson essay at Wild Court

Evangeline Paterson, now a name that barely seems to ring a bell, was one of the most outstanding poets of her generation. Today, via my new essay on Wild Court, I encourage you to discover her exceptional poems. Here's a quick snippet...

...Paterson’s speciality is the perceptive empathetic observation of human relations, loaded with understanding and compassion for the invisible limits we place on ourselves...

You can read the essay in full at Wild Court by following this link.

A reflection on who we are, David Cooke's Sicilian Elephants

David Cooke’s poetry might be rooted in anecdote, but those roots are simply his point of departure for words that reach up towards the light. In this respect, his new collection, Sicilian Elephants (Two Rivers Press, 2021), builds on his previous work.

Many of these poems, all written from the perspective of a U.K. resident, were probably crafted prior to the consequences of the fateful referendum. However, their openness to Europe now grants them a fresh impetus in the context of Brexit. At first glance, excellent poems about gardening and DIY might seem geographically limited and limiting. In fact, the opposite is true. Let’s take the example of the closing lines to ‘Grand Designs’, which ends as follows:

…until once more in the back of their minds
they hear children squealing
who slid down a door on the stairs,
but now live hours away: they have little time
to decorate and even less for visits.

This reflection on the slip-slip of generations can then be compared and contrasted to an extract from ‘Leaving Vigo’:

…All he has or needs
is what he has managed to pack
into a cardboard suitcase,

with a pair of sturdy shoes
and the words he’s learned in a tongue
he’ll never handle like his kids.

At his back the town recedes –
the oyster market and the steps
that lead to shops above it.

He might be centre stage –
this man who is scurrying
towards his future...

The protagonists of both poems are parents. In one, their parenthood is slipping into the past. In the other, it is ahead of him. In both, a moment on a parent’s journey is being portrayed.

What’s more, difference and similarity, implicit comparisons and contrasts, are all laid out to be explored. Where less skilled poets might try to hammer home their points, Cooke uses juxtaposition and allows his readers to think for themselves. For instance, the immigrant from Vigo will clearly never belong in his new home, but are the parents in the first poem also being displaced themselves from their own lives? What is the meaning of belonging? What unites us as people and what separates us?

In the poems that are set in Europe, Cooke never looks through the lens of a tourist on a trip. Instead, his method reminds us of Larkin’s ‘The Importance of Elsewhere’: the act of travel enlightens the poet by providing a counterpoint to home. Sicilian Elephants would already have been a thought-provoking book even prior to Brexit. Nevertheless, it now becomes especially significant as a reflection on who we are. David Cooke’s collection brings us closer to Europe: it’s poetry for our times.

The Knives of Villalejo is a Poetry News Book of the Year selection!

The Knives of Villalejo, my first full collection, is a Poetry News Book of the Year selection! I'm very grateful to Christopher James, who states...

"The Knives of Villalejo by Matthew Stewart is a book full of polarities: between work and home, past and present, life and death. These opposing currents provide the book with its emotional tension.

Stewart creates unpredictable landscapes in which seemingly innocuous, domestic scenes can lurch into something much darker. He has a gift, too, for original simile and metaphor, helping us reimagine familiar worlds."

You can read the list in full here.

The Best U.K. Poetry Blogs of 2021

I simply don’t believe that poetry blogs are anachronistic in 2021. What’s more, when compiling my annual (subjective and incomplete) list of the Best U.K. Poetry Blogs, I was reassured and reminded by all these amazing bloggers’ efforts that the medium is very much alive and kicking, offering a more substantial and less ephemeral format than social media

This year’s list even includes several top-notch newcomers, some of whom have been blogging for years but have only appeared on my limited radar this time around. Let’s start with them…

- Jeremy Wikeley’s The Left Margin is a top-notch addition to the U.K. poetry blog scene. Packed with critical insight, it’s dangerously addictive!

- Fokkina McDonnell’s Acacia Publications blog features a wide range of guest poets, while also charting her own journey through poetry.

- Bob Mee’s blog is full of the insight into the genre that he’s acquired as both a poet and a publisher.

- Wendy Pratt’s blog is bubbling with her zest for life and poetry. She’s an inspiration!

- Marion McCready’s Poetry in Progress is a chatty, honest and engaging account of a poet’s life.

And now on to the veterans of my list…

- Mat Riches’ Wear The Fox Hat shows the breadth of his poetry reading, all with self-deprecating humour that fails to hide the fact he actually knows what he’s talking about.

- Julie Mellor’s blog is packed with original short forms and gorgeous accompanying images.

- Ama Bolton’s barleybooks is always an inspiration, bubbling away with poetic ideas.

- Charlotte Gann’s blog has developed this year along with her Understory Conversation.

- Elizabeth Rimmer’s Burned Thumb blog makes constant connections between poetry and the world around us.

- Matthew Paul’s blog bears witness to the constant growth and curiosity of this excellent poet

- Richie McCaffery’s The Lyrical Aye is the chronicle of his poetic life back in Northumberland.

- Chris Edgoose’ Wood Bee Poet, brings us original poetry along with technically engaged reviews.

- Sue Ibrahim’s My Natural World is a gorgeous chronicle of the courage that’s needed to lead a creative life.

- Liz Lefroy’s I buy a new washer continues to build on the foundations of the book that was based on it.

- Tim Love’s litrefs, idiosyncratic and always thought-provoking.

- Martyn Crucefix’s blog is open to poetry from all over the world.

- Charles Boyle’s Sonofabook reflects a different approach to publishing.

- Abegail Morley’s Poetry Shed continues with its trusted formula of original work from guest poets, reviews and news. And why shouldn't it? The content’s terrific.

- Josephine Corcoran’s blog tracks her journey through life and poetry.

- John Foggin’s cobweb. John’s love of life and poetry shines through at every turn.

- Robin Houghton’s blog is great, as is her Poetry Magazines Submissions Spreadsheet (plug, plug…!).

- Clarissa Aykroyd’s The Stone and the Star is far more international in scope than many poetry blogs, as befits the person behind it.

- Anthony Wilson’s blog is quite simply a Lifesaver.

- Emma Lee’s blog is an amazing effort from one of poetry’s hardest grafters.

- Sheenagh Pugh’s Good God! There’s writing on both sides of that paper! continues to review and provide opinions with an acute eye.

- Matt Merritt’s Polyolbion: poetry, cricket and birds – a terrific combo!

- Caroline Gill’s blog has charted the publication of her first full collection this year.

- Angela Topping’s blog. Not many people would have kept up an excellent poetry blog with the health problems that Angela’s suffered this year, but she certainly did! Fingers crossed she’s now on the mend.

- Roy Marshall’s blog. I always keep an eye out for Roy’s poems, just like his insightful blog posts.

And that’s the end of the 2021 list. Oh, and one annual reminder; as mentioned in previous years, I do know that grim feeling of reading through a list, coming to the end and realising you’re not there, so I can only apologise if I’ve missed you out. As one individual reader, I can’t keep up with everyone, and I’d be very grateful for any additional blogs that readers might like to add in the comments that follow this post… 

Beyond the Bubble on The Friday Poem

I'm pleased to report I have an article on The Friday Poem this week, titled "Beyond the Bubble - how can poetry reach out to a wider readership?". I do hope it encourages positive debate. The first paragraph reads as follows:

Over the twenty-five years that I’ve been following the U.K. poetry scene, I’ve witnessed countless hands being wrung at the side-lining of poetry by society. However, this act has then been followed by most stakeholders (poets, publishers, arts organisations, etc) sitting on those same hands and complaining, as if outsiders’ lack of interest in the genre were their own fault. One analogy might be the disbelief that some feel at so many other people voting for Brexit. In politics as in poetry, nothing will change unless we all take the bull by the horns and engage with society on a regular and permanent basis...

If this extract has piqued your curiosity, you can read the article in full by following this link.