Go See

Clear Vision
Originally uploaded by C.P.Storm.

A few recent internet discoveries and recommendations:

Poet George Szirtes' blog is a fascinating insight into a writer's busy life. He often talks about influences on his work and his recent post on Busby Berkeley with links to Berkeley's amazing film 'Gold diggers of 1935' on YouTube gives an interesting insight into the pre-war period, the way the powerful imagery of fascism influenced Berkeley and the way that Berkeley's vision inspired his poetry which is often concerned with those who suffered as a result of fascism.

Philippe De Jonckheere's désordre site is full of weird and wonderful stuff. As French poet Paul Claudel once wrote: "L'ordre est le plaisir de la raison, mais le désordre est le délice de l'imagination." The text is in French, but there are many artworks.

Bee Higgin's Bumble site is interesting. She has recently posted some photographs of herself and her twin sister covered in body paint which are really quite special. The first post illustrates day and the second post night.

Mairead Byrne's poetry is generally brief, sometimes amusing, always interesting. Her website is called Heaven.

If you like French poetry, then Wheaton College's Vive Voix is a web site you should definitely know about. It is a large archive of the work of many different French poets from different epochs and in a range of styles which you can listen to in the original French while reading the poem. A great way to tune your ear to the French language as well.

One of my favourite poetry blogs is the Eyewear site of Todd Swift. Todd lives and breathes poetry and is well informed about its various schools on both sides of the Atlantic. He is also the poetry editor of nthposition magazine.

Finally, Joe Milutis' web site called New Jersey as an Impossible Object is a fascinating exploration of the sources and meanings of William Carlos Williams' long poem 'Paterson'. Joe has started from the ground up by visiting Paterson and meeting others with an interest in 'Paterson'.

Rights, Light and Language

Here's a few recent internet discoveries:

Novelist Clare Dudman discussing David Crystal and the evolution of language on the internet.

Poet Dick Jones describing how he helped gypsies to establish land rights with a first post describing the ethnic origins of gypsies and a second post about the romantic impulse that caused him to introduce himself to the gypsies living near his home in Surrey. And finally, a fine poem called 'Beebee Helen's Merripen' that translates from Anglo-Romani as 'Aunt Helen's Death'.

Poet Todd Swift on the Economist magazine's view of Paul Muldoon. Todd concludes: "The Economist seems to want as unrestricted access to the "meaning" of a poem as it does to markets."

Poet Gerry Cambridge's long poem 'Light up Lanarkshire' which meditates on the nature of coal:

And what is coal? Coal is a terse black language
You could translate to the rustling tongues of money.
It is stilled fire. It is a sunbird locked in an ebony cage.
It is light made solid.

The poem recalls Gerry's grandfather who worked in the Lanarkshire coal mines and contains some wonderful metaphors for hope and despair is such conditions.

Martin Stannard is back with his updated Exultations and Difficulties web site which he writes, these days, from China.

FInally, I draw your attention to The Green Integer Review which features new poems by Joe Ross whose recent book I reviewed here.