This in from the Poetry School: "Fiona Moore and Abi Parry are
the two talented people picked from an immensely competitive field to become our
two new developing editors. They will work closely with Poetry School staff and
Michael Mackmin at The Rialto on a programme designed to explore the
practicalities and philosophies of poetry editing, culminating in their editing
a section of the magazine. Fiona has just published a pamphlet with Happenstance
called The Only Reason for Time, and Abi is a Gregory winner who is
working on her first collection."
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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