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Recorded November 26, 2024. Trinity Long Room Hub Visiting Research Fellow Professor Anthony Caleshu (University of Plymouth) in conversation with Professor Philip Coleman (School of English, TCD). Bio I wrote my PhD at National University of Ireland, Galway (on the American poet, James Tate), and began working at University of Plymouth in 2003. I became Professor of Poetry and Creative Writing in 2012. My chief interest is Contemporary Poetry. I've written 5 books of poetry and 3 books about poetry. I also write short fiction, and have recently completed a screenplay. Past writing publications include a novella as well. Critical interests include Creative Health. My current work is around the benefit of Community Assets (Arts & Cultural organisations) and Social Prescription to support those with common mental health symptoms. I was PI for the AHRC-funded 'Poets Respond to Covid-19' project (2020-2021). Our published project findings about the benefit of poetry to health and well-being during the pandemic were covered by over 200 media outlets around the world. All of my writing is research led and often stems from my wider interest in the creative arts and philosophy. My fifth and most recent book of poetry, Xenia etc. (Shearsman, 2023) aims to re-invigorate the ekphrastic tradition, spring-boarding from contemporary visual art into an exploration of the contemporary condition (exploring sexuality and gender in the paintings of Julie Curtiss, landscape and the environment in the work of Shara Hughes and Emma Webster, and race in the work of Henry Taylor). Learn more at www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub
This is taken from A Man of Heart, published by Shearsman press (2023) Maxim 1 History is a record of brutality tempered by outbursts of idealism. Memory There was never enough light. Even in summer, shade and shadows contour brightness. At night, torches and lamps shiver the edge of sight. The candle drew attention to itself while life continued in the silent, darker ebb and pool beyond. I remember her hand on the pillar, a shadow on the white stone. Her eyes bright in a dark face. She was worried, there were visitors, men of power and influence, come to court her daughter. Not bad for a freed slave from the lands around Carthage. I remember her hand on the pillar, the light shaking over the mosaic floor. She had plans. We all had plans.
This extract is taken from ‘A Man of Heart' by Liam Guilar, published by Shearsman in January 2023. The Venerable Bede dated this event to 450 AD. The British, attacked on all sides, abandoned by Rome, hired mercenaries to help them to fight their enemies. Traditionally, they hired three boat loads of ‘Germanic Warriors', led by Hengist and his brother, Horsa. On the beach watching them depart is his daughter, Rowena, who will play a significant role in subsequent events. Their story is told in 'A Man of Heart.'
D. S. Marriott in conversation with Frank B. Wilderson III, celebrating the publication of D. S. Marriott's "Before Whiteness: City Lights Spotlight No. 21," published by City Lights Books. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and was hosted by Peter Maravelis with an opening statement by Garrett Caples. Poet and scholar D.S. Marriott was born in Nottingham and educated at the University of Sussex, UK. He is the author of the poetry collections "Incognegro"(Salt, 2006), "Hoodoo Voodoo" (Shearsman, 2008), "The Bloods" (Shearsman, 2011), and "Duppies" (Commune Editions, 2019). His chapbooks include "In Neuter" (Equipage, 2012) and "Lative" (Equipage, 1992). His work is sometimes associated with the Cambridge school of poetry. In his critical and creative work, Marriott, of Jamaican heritage, draws on postcolonial thought and thinkers such as Frantz Fanon and is a leading theorist of Afro-pessimism. His critical books include "On Black Men" (Edinburgh University Press and Columbia University Press, 2000), "Haunted Life" (Rutgers University Press, 2007), and "Whither Fanon? Studies in the Blackness of Being" (Stanford University Press, 2018). He has taught at many universities and is currently based in Oakland, CA. Frank B. Wilderson III is a writer, dramatist, filmmaker and critic. He is a full professor of drama and African American studies at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of "Red, White & Black: Cinema and the Structure of US Antagonisms" (Duke University Press, 2010), "Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile & Apartheid" (South End Press, 2008), "Gramsci's black marx: Whither the slave in civil society?" (Social Identities 9.2 , 2003) and "Afropessimism" (Liveright, 2020). He has received numerous honors for his work including The Eisner Prize for Creative Achievement of the Highest Order, The Maya Angelou Award for Best Fiction Portraying the Black Experience in America, an American book Award, amongst others. Wilderson has been described as one of the first writers in the tradition of Afro-pessimism. This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Jeremy Hooker (born 1941) I don't often read two consecutive poems from the same poet, but I wanted to hear this one. It's taken from Hooker's 'Selected Poems (1965-2018)' published 2020 by Shearsman books
Jeremy Hooker (Born 1941) Shearsman published Hooker's Selected poems (1965-2018) in 2020. It's an impressive body of work, through provoking, moving, and very enjoyable to read. I like the way this poem uses a single, familiar (If you live near the coast) image to explore a complex idea, and resists the temptation to shut down the exploration with a neat conclusion. I also like the way the poem never loses sight of the physical world. The gull and the post are always a gull and a post, carefully observed, rather than a convenient symbol for the poet's musings. He's right about Gulls' eyes.
Susan Connolly reads her poem Woman in a Black Hat in this episode of Words Lightly Spoken, a podcast of poetry from Ireland. The poem is from her collection The Orchard Keeper, published by Shearsman.
A chance to hear again Anamaría Crowe Serrano reading her poem Frontiers, first posted in April 2019. The poem is from her collection On Words and Up Words, published by Shearsman.
Keith Payne reads his poem Ultramarine in this episode of Words Lightly Spoken, a podcast of poetry from Ireland, funded by the Arts Council of Ireland. Keith’s work is published by Shearsman in the UK and Lapwing in Ireland.
Anamaría Crowe Serrano reads her poem Frontiers in this episode of Words Lightly Spoken, a podcast of poetry from Ireland, funded by the Arts Council of Ireland. The poem is from her collection On Words and Up Words, published by Shearsman.
In this podcast Jennifer Williams talks to Illinois-born, Bath-based poet Carrie Etter about her newest collection, Scar (Shearsman 2016), a sequence exploring the impact of climate change on her home state of Illinois which speaks to problems faced by all of us as we enter this period of environmental catastrophe. They also discuss the importance of introducing students to a diverse range of poetic styles and voices, trends in American and UK poetry, and much more. http://carrieetter.blogspot.co.uk/ http://www.shearsman.com/ws-shop/category/1096-etter-carrie https://www.serenbooks.com/author/carrie-etter Carrie Etter is an American poet resident in England since 2001. Previously she lived in Normal, Illinois (until age 19) and southern California (from age 19 to 32). In the UK, her poems have appeared in, amongst others, New Welsh Review, Poetry Wales, Poetry Review, PN Review, Shearsman, Stand and TLS, while in the US her poems have appeared in magazines such as Aufgabe, Columbia, Court Green, The Iowa Review, The New Republic, Seneca Review. Her first collection, The Tethers, was published by Seren in June 2009, and her second, Divining for Starters, containing more experimental work, was published by Shearsman in 2011. Her third collection, Imagined Sons, was published by Seren in 2014. Scar, her newest book, was published by Shearsman in 2016. She is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing for Bath Spa University and has been a tutor for The Poetry School since 2005.
Lina ramona Vitkauskas is the author of the epic poem Spiny Retinas (Mutable Sound, forthcoming, 2014); A Neon Tryst (Shearsman Books, 2013); Honey is a She (Plastique Press, 2012); The Range of Your Amazing Nothing (Ravenna Press, 2010); and Failed Star Spawns Planet/Star (dancing girl press, 2006). Past and forthcoming publications include work in Coconut, The Awl, Matter, Tarpaulin Sky, DIAGRAM, TriQuarterly, The Chicago Review, and The Toronto Quarterly, among others. She is the marketing director of the Chicago School of Poetics and co-edits the 14-year-running online literary journal, milk magazine.
Programme Manager Jennifer Williams discusses constructivist poetry and more with award-winning poet, fiction writer, critic and professor Tony Lopez at a rather noisy 2012 Edinburgh International Book Festival. Tony reads from his book ‘Only More So’ (Shearsman) and talks about upcoming projects. Music by James Iremonger.