tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077191014844626922024-03-16T01:09:33.774+00:00The Stone and the Star"Poetry searches for radiance, poetry is the kingly road that leads us farthest" (Adam Zagajewski)Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.comBlogger411125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-75525996882312608932023-10-05T00:39:00.002+01:002023-10-05T00:41:37.839+01:00National Poetry Day: Refuge and Carolyn Forché's 'The Boatman'<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XoblyCPYqOSjA2s0Bo_bzZRgUiUmFQ-sAN5Y6mZAfPXfG8F6RykZuNjGDkYd2-UUUaB_BKaETDPPN41tofGh7D_ckGMl0aaVB9ex68J6JzZS9C39UsYy8ZPdBxfQaUhlAOFy5LMZXBtEZkhYX98UvQIjFGBBqECHdOWZKQ37L0oSe029yeKNJLE3SjU/s1024/20151030_Syrians_and_Iraq_refugees_arrive_at_Skala_Sykamias_Lesvos_Greece_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XoblyCPYqOSjA2s0Bo_bzZRgUiUmFQ-sAN5Y6mZAfPXfG8F6RykZuNjGDkYd2-UUUaB_BKaETDPPN41tofGh7D_ckGMl0aaVB9ex68J6JzZS9C39UsYy8ZPdBxfQaUhlAOFy5LMZXBtEZkhYX98UvQIjFGBBqECHdOWZKQ37L0oSe029yeKNJLE3SjU/w400-h266/20151030_Syrians_and_Iraq_refugees_arrive_at_Skala_Sykamias_Lesvos_Greece_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Today is <a href="https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/" target="_blank">National Poetry Day</a> in the UK, and this year's theme is 'Refuge'.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On a global scale, the world is experiencing the highest levels of displacement ever recorded. On a more personal level, I have friends who have become refugees this year. And while the disastrous war in Ukraine or the horrors of migrants drowning in the Mediterranean may be prominent in the thoughts of many, they are just the tip of an iceberg which includes mass displacement in and from countries such as Congo, Afghanistan and so many others, due to war, natural disasters, famine and a host of other reasons. Even for those who have fled or claimed asylum under marginally less terrible conditions than some others, the emotional impact (at the very least) is shocking.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Carolyn Forché's <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/90646/the-boatman" target="_blank">'The Boatman'</a>, from her most recent and truly wonderful collection <i>In the Lateness of the World</i>, speaks in the voice of a taxi driver who is also a Syrian refugee. I find the juxtaposition of the incredible horror of what he's endured to arrive in a (relatively, apparently) safe city, with his determination to "see that you arrive safely, my friend, I will get you there", almost unbearable. Forché brilliantly conveys the contrasts between the warm taxi and the filthy, dangerous rubber boat, the hotel in Rome with its portraits of films stars and the dead child floating in the water. How surreal it is to hear someone in a calm environment quietly describe the inhumanity they endured to arrive there. And there is also an underlying sense that death is never far away. 'The Boatman', as a title and the self-description of "the boatman, driving a taxi at the end of the world", makes me think of Charon, who took the souls of the dead across the river Styx. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On this melancholy note, please enjoy National Poetry Day and the many ways in which it explores 'Refuge', some surely more comforting than others. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20151030_Syrians_and_Iraq_refugees_arrive_at_Skala_Sykamias_Lesvos_Greece_2.jpg" target="_blank">Image: Syrian and Iraqi refugees reach the coastal waters of Lesbos in Greece, after having crossed from Turkey. Author: Ggia. Used under Creative Commons license</a></span></p>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-14466735883526528172023-03-21T09:23:00.000+00:002023-03-21T09:23:08.930+00:00World Poetry Day: 'The Stare's Nest By My Window' by WB Yeats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXawjfjsqpo-MG-HDnU2iogpWi6mbfvxrbFddl2Ydp8oxKlUcPf5OozNXuqiQ4H5kvTdKEfUqkd7ZDlo3DIwv_GH2-6Z0nX_CrCrlGbbup_YuaM6taQ9i_3XGNxowBJdttYJTcBPdZXkqaGdOKmGC7uSzAO6zuCsi_SgmNJHZ6FGu5mec9HA-Wks-/s712/yeats_360x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="570" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXawjfjsqpo-MG-HDnU2iogpWi6mbfvxrbFddl2Ydp8oxKlUcPf5OozNXuqiQ4H5kvTdKEfUqkd7ZDlo3DIwv_GH2-6Z0nX_CrCrlGbbup_YuaM6taQ9i_3XGNxowBJdttYJTcBPdZXkqaGdOKmGC7uSzAO6zuCsi_SgmNJHZ6FGu5mec9HA-Wks-/s320/yeats_360x450.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">It's World Poetry Day, and tonight I will be going to a Josephine Hart Poetry Hour event at the British Library, about WB Yeats. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">By my reckoning, Yeats has been in my life for about 30 years. I was a young teenager, as with so many of the artistic influences which ran into my bloodstream and stayed there forever. I was thinking tonight that the records I listened to between about 12-16 are part of who I am — they are me — and the records I listened to between about 17-22 are time machines, which is actually something quite different. Yeats is part of who I am and thus, part of what led me first from Canada and then to Ireland and then to London. And certainly to being a poet, as far as it goes. (A small thing, but mine own.) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The poem that came to mind tonight, in another year of global turmoil, was Yeats's 'The Stare's Nest By My Window', part of the sequence 'Meditations in Time of Civil War'. It weaves together the extreme focus on the personal, the immediate and the close-by, with the broader crises and concerns which put the poet in that place of absolute focus in the first place. It grasps at what can be seen and held, and also hoped for, amidst profound uncertainty. This is, in varying degrees, the story of the world in recent years (and in less recent years). And it was written a little over a century ago.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Below is the poem, but you can read the entire sequence <a href="https://www.poetryascommemoration.ie/poems/meditations-in-time-of-civil-war-by-w-b-yeats/" target="_blank">here</a>, which I encourage you to do. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>THE STARE'S NEST BY MY WINDOW (WB YEATS)</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The bees build in the crevices</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Of loosening masonry, and there</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The mother birds bring grubs and flies.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My wall is loosening; honey-bees,</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Come build in the empty house of the stare. </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>We are closed in, and the key is turned</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>On our uncertainty; somewhere</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>A man is killed, or a house burned.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Yet no clear fact to be discerned:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Come build in the empty house of the stare. </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>A barricade of stone or of wood;</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Some fourteen days of civil war:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Last night they trundled down the road</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>That dead young soldier in his blood:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Come build in the empty house of the stare.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>We had fed the heart on fantasies,</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The heart's grown brutal from the fare,</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>More substance in our enmities</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Than in our love; O honey-bees,</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Come build in the empty house of the stare.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-48914371125558603772022-12-31T02:08:00.000+00:002022-12-31T02:08:50.369+00:00Year-end: poems in Bad Lilies, and Best UK Poetry Blogs of 2022<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">2022 has drawn to a close and I don't really have a list of accomplishments to offer, but I do have a couple of highlights in poetry-world.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">In February, the wonderful poetry journal <i>Bad Lilies</i> published my two poems <a href="https://www.badlilies.uk/clarissa-aykroyd" target="_blank">'Brilliant cut' and 'Yustas'</a>. They appeared in <a href="https://www.badlilies.uk/issue-six" target="_blank">the journal's sixth issue, entitled 'Private Universe'</a>, alongside a host of other great poets and poems. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">A few years ago I first discovered the work of Julian Semenov (or Yulian Semyonov). He was a Russian and Soviet thriller writer who is little known in Western countries but whose impact in Slavic countries, and regions formerly in the USSR and its sphere of influence, was profound. Most famously, Semenov wrote a book called <i>Seventeen Moments of Spring, </i>which was published in the late 1960s and a few years later was adapted into a television series of the same name, which is probably the most famous Soviet TV show ever made. This spy show is really only known in Western countries to those who are deeply interested in world spy films, or in Soviet or Russian culture. My own interest came mainly from a curiosity about what the USSR was doing with espionage fiction and film in the early 1970s, but watching <i>Seventeen Moments of Spring</i> also led in a very direct line to my starting to learn Russian in 2020. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">These two poems, specifically inspired by Semenov's works, were published in late February. Less than a week later, Russia attacked Ukraine and beyond the fact that the news was shocking and overwhelming, it didn't feel like an ideal time to be blogging about Russian pop culture (although "Soviet" is more accurate here than "Russian", for what it's worth) - hence the very long delay. Strangely, though, <i>Seventeen Moments of Spring</i> and Semenov's books can genuinely be said to have slipped the considerable constraints of their origins. Today they are still relevant (even to the current moment), open to a wide variety of interpretations, and of course entertaining. The <i>Seventeen Moments</i> series was specifically intended as propaganda at the time of its release, part of a campaign to improve the KGB's image. But the show's surprising subtlety allowed many viewers to interpret it as a comment on the Soviet Union itself and the pressures of working inside, and against, a powerful oppressive system which keeps everyone under constant surveillance. Stirlitz, the double-agent hero, has inspired an endless stream of ironic jokes which continue to be instantly recognisable in countries formerly in the Soviet sphere of influence. And since February, I have often seen clips and quotes from the show online used as criticism of the Russian government's actions.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Seventeen Moments</i> was directed by Tatyana Lioznova (a Jewish woman), featured remarkable music by Tariverdiev (of Armenian descent) and performances by many wonderful Soviet actors, and still holds up as a work of art, which is how I experience it. It is a personal work for me in a way which is difficult to explain, but I watched it a lot during the Covid lockdowns and I think it will always stay with me as a portrait of loneliness and trying to do the right thing in isolation. (I am also permanently enthralled by the beautiful, wistful Vyacheslav Tikhonov, who played Stirlitz.) 'Yustas' is specifically based on the TV show, while 'Brilliant cut' evokes a scene from another novel in Semenov's series of books about Stirlitz. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A nice year-end highlight this month was the re-appearance of my blog on <a href="http://roguestrands.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-best-uk-poetry-blogs-of-2022.html" target="_blank">Matthew Stewart's Best UK Poetry Blogs of 2022 list</a>, in great company - this time as one of the irregular bloggers. It was very kind of Matthew to include my blog at all given that I hardly posted this year. I hope that next year will be an improvement - in many, many ways. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-22341188159906381792022-10-26T21:57:00.001+01:002022-10-26T22:18:00.534+01:002022 Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">The winner of the second Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation will be announced this Tuesday, 1 November. Awarded every other year, the prize recognises the best book of poetry by a living poet from Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Middle East, published in English translation. In 2020 it was awarded to <i>Anniversary Snow </i>by Yang Lian, translated from Chinese by Brian Holton and others. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In 2022, the prize was judged by Rosalind Harvey, Kit Fan and Kyoo Lee, and the shortlist is as follows:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Come, Take a Gentle Stab </i>by Salim Barakat - translated from Arabic by Huda J Fakhreddine and Jayson Iwen (Seagull Books)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Exhausted on the Cross</i> by Najwan Darwish - translated from Arabic by Kareen James Abu-Zeid (New York Review Books)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Migrations: Poem, 1976-2020 </i>by Gloria Gervitz - translated from Spanish by Mark Schafer (New York Review Books)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Unexpected Vanilla </i>by Lee Hyemi - translated from Korean by Soje (Tilted Axis Books)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>The River in the Belly </i>by Fiston Mwanza Mujila - translated from French by J Bret Maney (Deep Vellum)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Cargo Hold of Stars: Coolitude </i>by Khal Torabully - translated from French by Nancy Naomi Carlson (Seagull Books)</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>You can book a ticket here to watch the announcement on Zoom (for free) on 1 November: <a href="https://www.poetrytranslation.org/events/winner-announcement-the-sarah-maguire-prize-for-poetry-in-translation-2022" target="_blank">https://www.poetrytranslation.org/events/winner-announcement-the-sarah-maguire-prize-for-poetry-in-translation-2022 </a></div><div><br /></div><div>Sarah Maguire was the founder of the Poetry Translation Centre, an organisation which was very important to me personally in my poetry development during the past decade or so. Sarah died in 2017, leaving the PTC and her own remarkably impressive body of work. In a time when cross-cultural understanding seems more important than ever, I'm glad that the Sarah Maguire Prize has become another part of her legacy.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can find more details about the prize and the shortlisted works here: <a href="https://www.poetrytranslation.org/sarah-maguire-prize" target="_blank">https://www.poetrytranslation.org/sarah-maguire-prize</a> </div></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-9745216243724669632022-02-15T00:45:00.000+00:002022-02-15T00:45:02.114+00:00New(ish) poem in The Crank: Return to the Night City<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Amidst hardly blogging at all last autumn (can you do something amidst not doing something?), I sadly neglected to apprise my more-faithful-than-I-deserve blog readers of a new poem publication. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My poem 'Return to the Night City' appeared late last year in <i>The Crank</i>, a new-ish online poetry journal edited by Humphrey Astley. This journal is trend-minimal (or words to that effect), and thus inclines more to formal or formal-adjacent poetry than my work often does, although I do think my poetry likes nodding to form. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can download the PDF of issue 4, where my poem appears, here: <a href="https://www.thecrankmag.com/issue-4" target="_blank">https://www.thecrankmag.com/issue-4</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The past issues are very much worth reading, and I think another is on its way soon. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">'Return to the Night City' was specifically inspired by <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/55097/the-night-city" target="_blank">WS Graham's 'The Night City'</a>, one of my favourite poems about London. My tribute came partly from reading 'The Night City' and thinking of all the associations, particularly literary, that I have with this city. It also came from a slightly stupid incident a few years ago when I flew back so late from somewhere in Europe (Portugal, maybe?) that I could only get a train to Blackfriars, and I then started hiking along the Thames with my suitcase at about 2 in the morning. I came to my senses after about fifteen minutes and got a cab, but this poem is sort of the magical realism version of that incident. Tonally, I tried to approach the original Graham poem, without turning my own poem into pastiche. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-45098455119989383052021-12-31T00:18:00.000+00:002021-12-31T00:18:00.768+00:00Ten years of The Stone and the Star<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">As 2021 stumbles to a close, it might be obvious to anyone who was paying attention (and I don't know if anyone was) that I was not writing in here much in recent months; to be precise, since September. In many ways, September and onwards was a big improvement over the rest of my life since the start of the pandemic in early 2020. I got a new job working with children's literature - so far, on course to be my best job ever - and before starting, I had time to visit my family in Canada. I also spent September weekends as part of the <a href="https://thestoneandthestar.blogspot.com/2021/09/sea-reconnection-art-and-poetry.html" target="_blank">Sea Reconnection</a> exhibition, which as an art-and-poetry exhibition was a first for me and certainly a highlight of the year.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I haven't felt much like writing, though. My pandemic experience has avoided the worst that many have experienced (severe illness, death of loved ones, prolonged unemployment, etc) but at times I feel like it's sort of flattened me out. I hope to get back into more of a writing frame of mind in the months to come, even in small ways, which I think will help.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Matthew Stewart, in his excellent <i>Rogue Strands </i>blog, has once again very kindly included this blog on <a href="http://roguestrands.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-best-uk-poetry-blogs-of-2021.html" target="_blank">his list of the best British poetry blogs of the year</a>. Possibly a little more than it deserves this year, but at least we're still here.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On that note, in October 2021 it was ten years since I started writing <i>The Stone and the Star</i>. In 2011, I think I thought it was possible I'd keep going for this long, but ten years is always a long time to look ahead. It really has entwined itself with my life in unexpected ways, and helped to open up many worlds of poetry to me. I definitely urge you to go back and read some of my earlier blog posts; that's where a lot of the good stuff is. And thank you for sticking around for this long, or for joining in along the road.</div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-78139547271463525062021-09-24T19:48:00.000+01:002021-09-24T19:48:42.765+01:00Sea Reconnection: the final weekend!<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.seareconnection.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sea Reconnection</a>, featuring my poetry and the art of Miles Taverner and Darren Hewitt, is now drawing to a close and this is its final weekend. I wanted to share a few photos of the exhibition and to thank everyone who came, and particularly to thank Paula Taverner and Kathy Brown, who did so much work behind the scenes. (There are others: we love you all!) The exhibition has been part of the wonderful Totally Thames Festival 2021. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The exhibition is still open this Saturday and Sunday (25 and 26 September): 11-5 on Saturday, and 11-3 on Sunday. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Le Sorelle, 1 Thames Quay, Canary Wharf, London E14 9SG</div><div style="text-align: left;">(across from South Quay DLR Station</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MvNIIxqNDSG7N5N6iD3KOBPz6SeRDtn_5mwGRO4JKIljabVV94AGJvfIPhL4YFCHVMiWa3awYeTzYId0Akhj_ARleaJneMBvdQb8Mla8xeSreSbxK6udSK3Vm8KzxVzi2DwJsBD_8Xo/s2048/IMG_20210924_124917989.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MvNIIxqNDSG7N5N6iD3KOBPz6SeRDtn_5mwGRO4JKIljabVV94AGJvfIPhL4YFCHVMiWa3awYeTzYId0Akhj_ARleaJneMBvdQb8Mla8xeSreSbxK6udSK3Vm8KzxVzi2DwJsBD_8Xo/w300-h400/IMG_20210924_124917989.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhByjBAx097ITjLuApDk5SBzjCiLY_nbR_GOGXfGilUJOvkppyTaD-aCZ1a6NAdNqTkBKOU4uhyfKDM5CVwbqegMWiNB7fgegoRve-k4y99BF14hLi0JyIEcLNCYCnjrWNxBOsg5iLVU0w/w300-h400/IMG_20210924_125013941.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSOoYQZ2ho8_1tCP6DwfXYK4IQVVZvCuiAZX3cjfFrZ3RnYss238I-RCzvukeekVXn96RNkmdrJ7U6IPgp6GeIK2Op3ncjqSxgxlnHBv9WzIDTblM0x8wYn4KjfKxApAbS0qot7FfxVB0/s2048/IMG_20210924_125323792.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSOoYQZ2ho8_1tCP6DwfXYK4IQVVZvCuiAZX3cjfFrZ3RnYss238I-RCzvukeekVXn96RNkmdrJ7U6IPgp6GeIK2Op3ncjqSxgxlnHBv9WzIDTblM0x8wYn4KjfKxApAbS0qot7FfxVB0/w400-h300/IMG_20210924_125323792.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilHigVe3AbwMIzxPowT0PNZTTxsUYfXooL-Zy8wFJuBJomXXDDDkNuj1LZq9QynkRtMLDIRKB_3tt9h4ImS3PJM2VQcy8NUvXWtGPlnLhVGy-Y0HWU0hjae-gnmUtLeDohLcCE7Xvf5MM/s2048/IMG_20210924_125328785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilHigVe3AbwMIzxPowT0PNZTTxsUYfXooL-Zy8wFJuBJomXXDDDkNuj1LZq9QynkRtMLDIRKB_3tt9h4ImS3PJM2VQcy8NUvXWtGPlnLhVGy-Y0HWU0hjae-gnmUtLeDohLcCE7Xvf5MM/w400-h300/IMG_20210924_125328785.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-47320546937551813532021-09-02T21:17:00.002+01:002021-09-03T00:23:29.156+01:00Sea Reconnection: an art and poetry exhibition in London, September 2021<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">This month at Canary Wharf in London, the Le Sorelle river barge will host the <a href="https://www.seareconnection.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sea Reconnection</a> exhibition (part of the <a href="https://thamesfestivaltrust.org/whats-on/sea-re-connection-4727/" target="_blank">Totally Thames Festival 2021</a>), featuring my poetry and work by the visual artists Darren Hewitt and Miles Taverner. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The exhibition has been in the works for a long time - since 2019, in fact, although I joined the project at a slightly later stage in early 2020. Originally it was planned for spring 2020, but sadly due to COVID, all plans were off. We are delighted that it is finally happening and particularly that we have been able to join the Thames Festival.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcC5vSHT_MCDyTBF8DXwv4dCVkvK4hT6SxbOoZQo95Cz9NQGu6TZ-wr5J2QvNaNPfqqREKfZ7HvXSaT96G_QRGdUViFzEDPcgz4hp-fV2WEdIz6EfYTsRKMNGYtJzN5VJCXTYr0yWmJg/s2048/IMG_20210828_125148117.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcC5vSHT_MCDyTBF8DXwv4dCVkvK4hT6SxbOoZQo95Cz9NQGu6TZ-wr5J2QvNaNPfqqREKfZ7HvXSaT96G_QRGdUViFzEDPcgz4hp-fV2WEdIz6EfYTsRKMNGYtJzN5VJCXTYr0yWmJg/w400-h300/IMG_20210828_125148117.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheq8l9vBJhFqzWBF2sIHNcABTN-eI-N-NJn93-c87ziTzoInl1iFf8bYsdNDvk2serrZyrSzJcnOopWRyeieOBIW79x7SqPe1vxa2Sm6ND2srNNHgFc_Xy0unWzq1gC3Zx8fxGimwAEiY/s1600/IMG-20210830-WA0022.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheq8l9vBJhFqzWBF2sIHNcABTN-eI-N-NJn93-c87ziTzoInl1iFf8bYsdNDvk2serrZyrSzJcnOopWRyeieOBIW79x7SqPe1vxa2Sm6ND2srNNHgFc_Xy0unWzq1gC3Zx8fxGimwAEiY/w400-h225/IMG-20210830-WA0022.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.seareconnection.co.uk/darren-hewitt" target="_blank">Darren Hewitt</a>'s paintings are focused on expansive, light-filled seascapes and human interactions with these perspectives, while <a href="https://www.seareconnection.co.uk/miles" target="_blank">Miles Taverner</a> uses materials recovered and recycled from the sea to create tactile, colourful, often large-scale pieces. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Several of my poems appear alongside these artworks and bring together the themes of the sea and the Thames. In new works such as 'Great Eastern' and 'Pool of London', I have written about historic connections between London's river and the ocean. 'Great Eastern', below, was inspired by the ship of the same name, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, built at Millwall and eventually destined to lay the first lasting transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>GREAT EASTERN</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>At Millwall, an iron hull</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>like a fallen star.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Brunel with his fierce eyes</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>fixed on the future.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Grey Atlantic fought and held</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>the telegraph light.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Great Eastern, a meteor,</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>ploughed into the night.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The exhibition is free to all and is open every weekend from Friday to Sunday in September - details below. Please come if you can.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Sea Reconnection</div><div style="text-align: left;">Le Sorelle, 1 Thames Quay, Canary Wharf, London E14 9SG</div><div style="text-align: left;">(across from South Quay DLR station)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">September 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;">Fridays and Saturdays 11am to 5pm</div><div style="text-align: left;">Sundays 11am to 3pm </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-65372475735775019862021-06-30T21:18:00.003+01:002021-07-01T00:07:19.798+01:00Hit Points: An anthology of video game poetry<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5mCn_RFMdeJDX7B0fSr_D3UPwKPODr9TdqtlrnGd7Ft8EoKILpmLPuYnW5TotKO3BPvq2o3A1I39WOO4J9Njx5XhvqIgltwaqFOBhQco5UVcKY_R2di2ixuQP8_rtJ93XIF1oNR6euRc/s2048/IMG_20210526_122747457.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5mCn_RFMdeJDX7B0fSr_D3UPwKPODr9TdqtlrnGd7Ft8EoKILpmLPuYnW5TotKO3BPvq2o3A1I39WOO4J9Njx5XhvqIgltwaqFOBhQco5UVcKY_R2di2ixuQP8_rtJ93XIF1oNR6euRc/w400-h300/IMG_20210526_122747457.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Another month has slipped away; not the best one, but as Rilke wrote, no feeling is final. Neither are a lot of things, for good and for bad.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A very good thing that happened on the last day of May was the publication by <a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/" target="_blank">Broken Sleep Books</a> of <i><a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/hit-points-an-anthology-of-video-game-poetry" target="_blank">Hit Points: An anthology of video game poetry</a></i>. I have noticed in recent years that poets of my generation (ok, let's say poets aged 25-50, which is probably a couple of generations) are increasingly acknowledging the inspiration that they draw from video games, and this anthology was designed with that in mind. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My poem which appears in the anthology is called 'Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar' which, in a stunningly original move on my part, is also the title of the game which inspired it. The <i>Ultima</i> series of games, created by Richard Garriott (or Lord British...), dominated the nascent role-playing computer game scene of the 1980s, and <i>Ultima IV</i> is regarded as one of the most important role-playing games of all time. My brother and I played a few of the games on our Apple IIc, but we spent a particularly large amount of time on <i>IV</i>, and still managed to never finish it. There are probably a few reasons for this, but one of these is that we just didn't have the patience for the boring stuff, ie. dungeons. I realised even then that what I really loved was the world it allowed us to escape into, and the time spent with my brother. The poem, when I'd written it, turned out to be more of a homesickness piece than anything else.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Ultima IV</i> came out in 1985, and many of the games honoured in the anthology are a good deal more recent, but there's something for everyone: various incarnations of Mario, <i>Tomb Raider</i>, <i>Legend of Zelda</i>, and others which as a non-millenial I have barely even heard of. The good news is that you don't have to know the games to enjoy the poems, though it would probably add to your appreciation. The anthology appears in "Mario Red" and "Luigi Green" variants. Both were co-edited by Aaron Kent and Matthew Haigh, but they chose a different running order for each version. Each editor also contributed a few poems to one version each. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can buy the anthology here: <a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/hit-points-an-anthology-of-video-game-poetry" target="_blank">https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/hit-points-an-anthology-of-video-game-poetry</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-83998684320663656042021-05-30T21:00:00.002+01:002021-05-30T22:00:06.685+01:00Remembering Adam Zagajewski, 1945-2021<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtDUsZM6pMogAxeneT4grac4_4jggEq4AzMclDE_nH0Oe8u268LGic9D1plvbYJZzWHcPMSkDyOLtql3syE7v8yuv1Fg8kmWzN6rY8TYfdLicFveHOw25S8-wDwcBqzCu_rsnHjNDUNA/s1024/adam+zagajewski.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtDUsZM6pMogAxeneT4grac4_4jggEq4AzMclDE_nH0Oe8u268LGic9D1plvbYJZzWHcPMSkDyOLtql3syE7v8yuv1Fg8kmWzN6rY8TYfdLicFveHOw25S8-wDwcBqzCu_rsnHjNDUNA/w400-h266/adam+zagajewski.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The great Polish poet Adam Zagajewski died on 21 March of this year - which was also World Poetry Day - and it has taken me this long to write about it. The coincidence of the date was a poignant one because I have often thought of and shared his poems on World Poetry Day and similar days for the discovery and appreciation of poetry. He was the ideal poet for the purpose.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A few of my very favourite writers have died in the past year, but this death was perhaps even a little harder to come to terms with as Zagajewski was only 75, relatively young. It's also simply difficult to imagine him gone. Whenever I thought of him, he was somewhere in Central Europe writing outdoors at a café, or reading at some gathering of world poets. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I think Adam Zagajewski's poems were easy to love, which is no bad thing. When I think of his poems, words such as the following come to mind: humane, gentle, affectionate, clarifying. After 9/11, his poem <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57095/try-to-praise-the-mutilated-world-56d23a3f28187" target="_blank">'Try to Praise the Mutilated World'</a> became very famous in its English-speaking translation by Clare Cavanagh when it appeared in <i>The New Yorker</i>. Not one of my personal favourites of his poems, I still appreciate it and its immense value in the wake of a huge, world-changing tragedy. It distills what I think Zagajewski did best - the acknowledgement that dark, horrendous things happen but the equal observation that life continues and that the value of light, beauty and faith remains unchanged. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If there is one contemporary poet who I most clearly see as an influence on my own poetry, it's Zagajewski. I relate profoundly to his vision of things and would aspire to write like him. The curious thing is that, unlike most poets who I consider a major influence on my life and writing, I can't now remember how and where I first encountered him. I did get to go to one of his readings, about five or six years ago at Wilton's Music Hall in east London. It was especially moving when he read 'To Go to Lvov', a very important poem for me which I wrote about <a href="https://thestoneandthestar.blogspot.com/2014/02/adam-zagajewskis-to-go-to-lvov-it-is.html" target="_blank">here </a>some years ago. I also met him very briefly when he signed a book of his selected poems for me. I thought that he seemed reserved but kind, and when I asked him if he recommended any contemporary Polish poets he suggested Tomasz Różycki (who in my opinion is of the stature of Zagajewski). I dug out the book after I heard that Zagajewski had died, and was touched to discover that he had actually written Różycki's name down for me on a card which I'd kept in the book - probably aware that English speakers tend to find Polish names extremely difficult. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's so hard to choose a favourite poem by Zagajewski. When I reread them now, years after first readings, they remind me of emotions and moments in my life, and they take me to places which I've visited or which I hope to visit some day. 'Star' has been a talisman for me for many years. <a href="https://www.poetryinternational.org/pi/poem/19221/auto/0/0/Adam-Zagajewski/VITA-CONTEMPLATIVA/en/tile" target="_blank">'Vita Contemplativa'</a> occupies a central place of importance in my pantheon of poems, and lines from it often surface in my mind. <a href="https://www.poetryinternational.org/pi/poem/19212/auto/0/0/Adam-Zagajewski/POETRY-SEARCHES-FOR-RADIANCE/en/tile" target="_blank">'Poetry Searches for Radiance'</a> is a powerful mission statement for poetry. Whether one of his collections, a selected poems or something randomly found online, his works will reward both casual reading and prolonged engagement. What is much harder than finding the right poem by Zagajewski is accepting that he's not here any more. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Be sure to read this powerful essay and personal remembrance on Zagajewski by the poet Ilya Kaminsky: <a href="https://yalereview.org/article/going-to-lvov" target="_blank">https://yalereview.org/article/going-to-lvov </a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo:<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-v-e1c1f65a="" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/43860468@N02/49103456908" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #e23600; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"LITERAKTUM 2019-ADAM ZAGAJEWSKI"</a><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><span data-v-e1c1f65a="" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333;">by <a data-v-e1c1f65a="" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/43860468@N02" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #e23600; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">DONOSTIA KULTURA</a></span><span style="color: #333333;"> is licensed under </span><a class="photo_license" data-v-e1c1f65a="" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/?ref=ccsearch&atype=rich" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #e23600; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">CC BY-SA 2.0</a></span></span></span></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-78804495369453124792021-05-12T22:22:00.000+01:002021-05-12T22:22:30.008+01:00Reading at Broken Sleep Books 2019 showcase<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiiundeGYMM42SoMSg0RUgpP_jbsMMGO2sovdP4PZRqbmx2k87wvNL7Be6cvc8978Mhg_VvDkrLi8SA25O5ZkvdbRbUOttUlO3rLWa17KuDpBbEnYEgBCpj1KEeb_KMWgKsY8U8BoRUjo/s2048/Adobe_Post_20210421_1814570.24978438221498966.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiiundeGYMM42SoMSg0RUgpP_jbsMMGO2sovdP4PZRqbmx2k87wvNL7Be6cvc8978Mhg_VvDkrLi8SA25O5ZkvdbRbUOttUlO3rLWa17KuDpBbEnYEgBCpj1KEeb_KMWgKsY8U8BoRUjo/w360-h640/Adobe_Post_20210421_1814570.24978438221498966.png" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A little belatedly (sorry) I wanted to invite readers of my blog to a poetry reading I will be part of tomorrow (Thursday 13 August, 7:30 PM UK time, on Zoom).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This reading will showcase authors who appeared with my wonderful publishers <a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/" target="_blank">Broken Sleep Books</a> in 2019. As well as myself, the following poets will read: Ollie Tong, Christine Taylor, Matthew Haigh, Charlie Baylis, Yvonne Litschel, Eva Griffin, Jasmine Gray and Jack Belloli. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I knew I'd found a good publisher when Broken Sleep Books accepted my pamphlet <i><a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/clarissa-aykroyd-island-of-towers" target="_blank">Island of Towers</a> </i>and published it in 2019, but they really have surpassed all our expectations since then with more great publications, charitable endeavours and awards. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can book tickets on this link: <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2019-broken-sleep-books-showcase-tickets-151831081853" target="_blank">https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2019-broken-sleep-books-showcase-tickets-151831081853 </a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-7733281731527474992021-04-12T12:38:00.002+01:002021-04-13T15:00:04.919+01:00William Carlos Williams' 'Heel & Toe to the End': Yuri Gagarin and the Idea of Space<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixYba969h8tbiMLmi3C4IPRS91gmbQ110TXPovlaBSwZDGilrgo9J8ACe5PfVlSzoSZMkTvtMgTLnx-oD6xoFKotKwBCvRwf31nzwyXhTB7bLZ2gOISB48pQAWFFAF3tXQ5nl51V1Ur58/s1080/864px-Yuri_Gagarin_%25281961%2529_-_Restoration.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="864" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixYba969h8tbiMLmi3C4IPRS91gmbQ110TXPovlaBSwZDGilrgo9J8ACe5PfVlSzoSZMkTvtMgTLnx-oD6xoFKotKwBCvRwf31nzwyXhTB7bLZ2gOISB48pQAWFFAF3tXQ5nl51V1Ur58/w320-h400/864px-Yuri_Gagarin_%25281961%2529_-_Restoration.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On 12 April 1961, the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin completed one orbit of planet Earth in the capsule Vostok 1 and became the first human being in outer space.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I remember hearing about Gagarin when I was a very small child (ie. in the early 80s), not so much because anyone in my family was that obsessed with space travel, but probably because my parents thought it was good for kids to know things. I suspect that Gagarin was the first Russian who I ever knew about by name (with the possible exception of Tchaikovsky, one of my dad's favourite composers and now one of mine, who I may not have realised was Russian). I vaguely remember having a mental image of Gagarin as a severe-looking man with darker hair, sternly flying around planet Earth, an image I must have somehow picked up of what Russians looked like. At some later point it was surprising to see photos of a baby-faced young man with a slightly goofy smile. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Gagarin died in 1968 while flying a military jet, an ironic death given that Soviet officials had banned him from further space missions. He was a useful representative of the USSR and they had feared for his life after the death of Vladimir Komarov in the failed Soyuz 1 mission. Gagarin was only in his mid-30s at that point and his death ensured that he became a fully legendary figure, perhaps more of an idea now than a human being.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I watched the film Бумажный солдат (<i>Paper Soldier</i>, directed by Aleksei German, 2008) on the <a href="https://klassiki.online/" target="_blank">Klassiki film platform</a> a couple of days ago. It was about the preparations for Gagarin's mission and the moral dilemmas faced by people involved, who knew that his death was very likely. The film depicted the accidental death of Valentin Bondarenko, another candidate for the Vostok 1 mission, who was burned in a fire in an oxygen-rich isolation chamber. I was quite shocked by the film; I'd never really thought about the realities of trying to get a man into space in the USSR in the 1960s, and everything depicted looked terrifyingly old-fashioned and precarious, as well as brutal in terms of the well-being of individuals. Gagarin came across as cheerful, committed and uninterested in thinking too much about the fact that he might die, which probably made him a perfect candidate. "He flew like an angel," said witnesses after the success of the mission.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the context of the USSR, but of other nations as well, space travel seems to encompass a duality of something pure and unencumbered, but also an immensely useful tool of propaganda. Nations know that space flight looks idealistic but that it's also a display of power. I knew about Laika, the Soviet dog who was the first living creature in space and who died, and the story still upsets me and fills me with a profound loneliness. My perceptions of space exploration were also coloured as a small child by the Challenger disaster in 1986. When I look at it in a certain way, though, the feeling of purity still attaches. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I started thinking about poetry related to Gagarin when I noticed that his name shows up quite regularly in the Russian rock/pop music I've been listening to in recent months. When I asked for suggestions on Twitter, many people directed me to more poems and songs about Gagarin, in Russian, Ukrainian, English and other languages. I particularly liked this poem by William Carlos Williams, <a href="https://www.airspacemag.com/not-categorized/heel-amp-toe-to-the-end-34400436/" target="_blank">'Heel & Toe to the End'</a>, which captures the sense of wonder: "he could have/gone on forever". </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here, too, is one of the Russian rock songs I've enjoyed in recent months, by the band Смысловые Галлюцинации ("Semantic Hallucinations"). The song's title '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8A87I8hneI" target="_blank">Звёзды 3000</a>' translates as 'Stars 3000' and is a reverie about what space means to us back on earth (well, that's what I got from it...). Gagarin is name-checked in this but I can't quite figure out the context, even from the dodgy translations I found online: if any Russian speaker can help me I'd appreciate it...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r8A87I8hneI" width="320" youtube-src-id="r8A87I8hneI"></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin at a press conference during his visit to Finland, 1961. Arto Jousi/Suomen valokuvataiteen museo/Alma Media/Uuden Suomen kokelma; Restored by Adam Cuerden - Finnish Museum of Photography. Public domain. </span></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-7909561399412210492021-03-31T23:44:00.003+01:002021-04-01T00:12:44.475+01:00Yang Lian's Anniversary Snow wins the Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXH4HhiZmKLwyC7kS94iYNAWw-BHj0BiVpwn2VQgFoZeDvsyUvjnB-U3MQ5BWjnN4Kv1TTvet301tkhc3PbwtzNtKn6LVquRa2wZqqsCZOAdByOi2xHaz1z_mounfy2eCLPNyzEllNGyo/s401/1110171821.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXH4HhiZmKLwyC7kS94iYNAWw-BHj0BiVpwn2VQgFoZeDvsyUvjnB-U3MQ5BWjnN4Kv1TTvet301tkhc3PbwtzNtKn6LVquRa2wZqqsCZOAdByOi2xHaz1z_mounfy2eCLPNyzEllNGyo/s320/1110171821.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The inaugural Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation, which recognises the best book of poetry by a living poet from Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Middle East published in an English translation, was awarded last Thursday 25th March. The prize is an endeavour of the <a href="https://www.poetrytranslation.org/" target="_blank">Poetry Translation Centre</a> and is in memory of its founder, the late Sarah Maguire, who I knew for a few years before her untimely death and who was a brilliant poet in her own right as well as a champion of poetry from parts of the world often under-recognised in English translation. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Out of a fascinatingly diverse field, the award went to the collection <i>Anniversary Snow</i> by Yang Lian, translated from Chinese by Brian Holton with further translations from WN Herbert, L. Leigh, Liang Lizhen, Pascale Petit, Fiona Sampson, George Szirtes and Joshua Weiner. <i>Anniversary Snow </i>is published by Shearsman Books and you can find it on their website here: <a href="https://www.shearsman.com/store/Yang-Lian-Anniversary-Snow-p140803770" target="_blank">https://www.shearsman.com/store/Yang-Lian-Anniversary-Snow-p140803770 </a> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The panel of judges commented: "The book is grounded in the historical roots of Chinese culture, poetry and art, but goes far beyond it, reinterpreting with poise and intelligence the very essence of our existence, from the changing landscape that surrounds us, the appeal of the natural world and the inner beauty of language, exemplifying its political force and its political teachings." </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The PTC website has several excellent articles regarding the prize but I particularly recommend this fascinating and touching article by the winning poet Yang Lian: <a href="https://www.poetrytranslation.org/articles/where-did-anniversary-snow-fall" target="_blank">https://www.poetrytranslation.org/articles/where-did-anniversary-snow-fall</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm delighted to be able to share a poem from <i>Anniversary Snow. </i>It appears below first in the original Chinese and then in its English translation. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Gothic"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">三,</span><span face=""Microsoft JhengHei",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Microsoft JhengHei"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">诗</span><span style="font-family: "MS Gothic"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">学探</span><span face=""Microsoft JhengHei",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Microsoft JhengHei"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">讨</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">——</span><span style="font-family: "MS Gothic"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">另一个嵌入的声音</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">不能真</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">是不是美的</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">错</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">? </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">想象一件河底撒开的</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">衬</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">衣</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">浸</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">进</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">柏林秋夜的黑</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">想象那双眼睛</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">呛满</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">水</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">水</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">呛满</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">母</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">亲</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">谁说</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">死不是湿淋淋的和声</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">? </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">河底的小窗亮着那演奏</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">河底</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">一个不停</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">跃</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">下的</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">词</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">不停找到漏下的</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">呜</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">咽</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">叶子向下而</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">伤</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">口向上</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">房子向下</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">品</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">尝</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">的雪意向上</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">舌尖</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">钩</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">住的</span><span style="font-family: "Batang",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Batang; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">毁</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">灭</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">是否</span><span style="font-family: SimSun; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">远远</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">不</span><span face=""Yu Gothic",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Yu Gothic"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">够</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">想象一个</span><span face=""Yu Gothic",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Yu Gothic"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">滚</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">落的自我</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">呛满历</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">史的黑水</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span face=""Yu Gothic",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Yu Gothic"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">滚</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">落如卵石</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">没</span><span face=""Yu Gothic",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Yu Gothic"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">别</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">的</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">时间</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">除了抽</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">缩</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">的肺</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">没</span><span face=""Yu Gothic",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Yu Gothic"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">别</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">的</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">语</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">法除了剥开生命那件</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">衬</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">衣</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">说</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">死</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">侧</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">身人形的茫茫</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">再淤</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">积</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">是否仍然不</span><span face=""Yu Gothic",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Yu Gothic"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">够</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">沉溺之</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">诗</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">里只有正在到来的</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">词</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">摸</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">进这</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">儿</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">他</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">奋</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">力追赶自己的河底</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">母</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">亲飘</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">散的白逆着美的方向</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-text-raise: 14.0pt; position: relative; top: -14pt;">成</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-text-raise: 14.0pt; position: relative; top: -14pt;">为</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-text-raise: 14.0pt; position: relative; top: -14pt;">它</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-text-raise: 14.0pt; position: relative; top: -14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">拓展噩耗</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">谁</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">没目睹</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">这</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">首</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">诗</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">急急赶来</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">粉碎</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">辉</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">煌如</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">我</span><span face=""PingFang TC",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "PingFang TC"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">们</span><span style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">的美学</span><span style="font-family: "SourceHanSerifSC",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Poetic Inquiry − Another Embedded Voice <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">can’t be real is that beauty’s fault?<br />
imagine a shirt spread out on the riverbed <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">steeping in the black of a Berlin night<br />
imagine two eyes water-choked mother choking on water <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">who says death isn’t a drenched harmony?<br />
a little window on the riverbed lights up the show riverbed a word that never
stops leaping downwards <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">never stops finding leaked-out sobs leaves go down and wounds go up <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">houses down enjoyment of imminent snow goes up tongue tip is hooked ruin
not enough by far? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">imagine a self plunging down drowning in history’s black water plunging
like a pebble <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">there’s no time other than a contraction of the lungs <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">there’s no grammar other than a shirt that strips life away say death’s
immeasurable side-on human shape <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">is filling up with sediment again still not enough?<br />
in self-indulgent poetry there are only newly-arrived words <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">touch in here he does all he can to pursue his own river bed to become
it <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">mother’s vaporizing white travels in the opposite direction to beauty
spreads the worst of news no one saw this poem coming so quickly <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">shattering<br />
dazzling as <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">our aesthetic?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(from <i>Anniversary Snow </i>by Yang Lian, published by Shearsman Books) </span></div><br /></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-37652955267541416672021-02-28T14:15:00.003+00:002021-02-28T21:19:02.544+00:00Keep My Words Forever: a tribute album for Osip Mandelstam<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlpCUuG-O-T0fStt0YHCjHYVnVvoJ1V2gqddw9Cy6itWqtNkzYojh1mjqseX1z1H_YGvvB5QD69rMhTWpFTZ5JFLq5MNz0KK45vwbecbFmpXwPtoM2ybckae73aHPf_nW809bWMtTa38/s550/Chulkov_Petrovykh_Akhmatova_Mandelstam.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlpCUuG-O-T0fStt0YHCjHYVnVvoJ1V2gqddw9Cy6itWqtNkzYojh1mjqseX1z1H_YGvvB5QD69rMhTWpFTZ5JFLq5MNz0KK45vwbecbFmpXwPtoM2ybckae73aHPf_nW809bWMtTa38/s16000/Chulkov_Petrovykh_Akhmatova_Mandelstam.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In January, it was 130 years since the birth of the great Russian poet Osip Mandelstam. Mandelstam is widely translated and read in the English-speaking world, but unsurprisingly, his influence is greater in Russian-speaking countries. A victim of state persecution and of the efforts of other literary figures who opposed his subversive views, Mandelstam is as readable and relevant as ever today.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This year, a group of popular musicians have released a tribute album which sets Mandelstam's words to music. The album is called <i>Сохрани мою речь навсегда </i>(in English, <i>Keep My Words Forever</i>) and can be found on streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and others. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Some of the artists (who will be better known to Russian speakers) include Ilya Lagutenko (lead singer of the popular band Mumiy Troll), Leonid Agutin, Noize MC and Sansara. Alina Orlova, from Vilnius, performs in Lithuanian, and Mgzavrebi perform in Georgian. The artist who I think may be known to some non-Russian speakers is Oxxxymiron, a prominent Russian rapper who has lived in Slough and the East End of London, and who studied English literature at Oxford University. He performs a rap version of 'Lines for an unknown soldier'. The songs are all musical settings of Mandelstam poems, and they appear on the album in the order that the poems were published.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The project was initiated and produced by Roma Liberov, who I crossed paths with a few years ago. He had already directed the documentary film <i>Keep My Words Forever</i> (2015) about Mandelstam, and in 2017 I went to a screening of the film at London's Pushkin House, where Liberov spoke about Mandelstam's importance and about his work on the documentary. You can read my writeup of the event here: <a href="https://thestoneandthestar.blogspot.com/2017/10/keep-my-words-forever-mandelstam-at.html" target="_blank">https://thestoneandthestar.blogspot.com/2017/10/keep-my-words-forever-mandelstam-at.html</a> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I have listened to the album and was very moved by it. My own grasp of Russian is still nascent and as a result, I'm obviously missing some of the impact of the words. The musical styles featured include jazz, 80s-style pop, rap and more, and the poems include works such as 'I despise the light', 'This night is irredeemable' and 'I returned to my city, familiar to tears'. Personally, I definitely liked some tracks better than others. But above all, this project reveals the extreme vitality of Mandelstam's work in our time, and a desire to bring him closer to new audiences, many of which I am sure will embrace his poems if they haven't already. I love to see that Mandelstam is still loved so much.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I recommend checking out the project's official website, <a href="https://om130.ru/" target="_blank">https://om130.ru/</a> . (You can use the Translate function on your browser to see it in English, if you don't speak Russian.) Here you can see the album's wonderful artwork and find links to videos of the songs on Youtube. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image: Osip Mandelstam (far right) with Chulkov, Petrovykh and Anna Akhmatova. 1930s.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-18945894256209302832021-02-08T18:22:00.001+00:002021-04-01T00:16:33.175+01:00The Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation Shortlist<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">A few days ago, the <a href="https://www.poetrytranslation.org/" target="_blank">Poetry Translation Centre</a> announced the shortlist for the inaugural Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation. The Poetry Translation Centre has helped to bring great contemporary work from around the world to English speaking audiences, and this new translation prize is likely to play a significant role in years to come.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This new prize is in honour of the late Sarah Maguire, who founded the Poetry Translation Centre, and it will recognise the best book of poetry by a living poet from Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Middle East, translated into English. This year's judges are Alireza Abiz, Ida Hadjivayanis and Leo Boix. The award winner will be announced on Thursday 25 March.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The shortlist includes the following titles:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Factory Girls</i> by Takako Arai (Action Books, 2019. Translated from Japanese by Jeffrey Angles, Jen Crawford, Carol Hayes, Rina Kikuchi, You Nakai and Sawako Nakayasu.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>A Boat to Lesbos and other poems</i> by Nouri Al-Jarrah (Banipal Books, 2018. Translated from Arabic by Camilo Gómez-Rivas and Allison Blecker.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Incomprehensible Lesson</i> by Fawzi Karim (Carcanet Press, 2019. In versions by Anthony Howell after translations from the Arabic made by the author.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Hysteria</i> by Kim Yideum (Action Books, 2019. Translated from Korean by Jake Levine, Soeun Seo and Hedgie Choi.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Tiawanaku: Poems from the Mother Coqa</i> by Judith Santopietro (Orca Libros, 2019. Translated from Spanish by Ilana Luna.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Anniversary Snow </i>by Yang Lian (Shearsman Books, 2019. Translated from Chinese by Brian Holton with further translations by WN Herbert, L Leigh, Liang Lizhen, Pascale Petit, Fiona Sampson, George Szirtes and Joshua Weiner.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can read more here about this year's prize and associated events and publications: <a href="https://www.poetrytranslation.org/articles/sarah-maguire-prize-for-poetry-in-translation-shortlist" target="_blank">https://www.poetrytranslation.org/articles/sarah-maguire-prize-for-poetry-in-translation-shortlist </a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-58204455845992288302021-01-22T19:37:00.004+00:002021-01-23T00:39:51.712+00:00Kharms: a film about the Russian poet Daniil Kharms<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZy10rxRnfhO0S1w8pzvTRZmOiG5zrKqqw8kr-2SMvjDgDmA5FW8NB4_4OWAe7defT_AeCgFP0sXTfCwAeYp4xe01aml-U1i51jf55vvms90BNV-gZMTwY1ISQ3ab9kz67fS6O7lnqGi0/s375/Kharms_%2528film%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="265" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZy10rxRnfhO0S1w8pzvTRZmOiG5zrKqqw8kr-2SMvjDgDmA5FW8NB4_4OWAe7defT_AeCgFP0sXTfCwAeYp4xe01aml-U1i51jf55vvms90BNV-gZMTwY1ISQ3ab9kz67fS6O7lnqGi0/w283-h400/Kharms_%2528film%2529.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Having a lot of enforced time off over the past surreal, nasty, stressful and boring year has been a mixed experience. The one really good thing about it, for me, has been the opportunity to immerse myself in the Russian language. I had been interested in doing this for a few years already, but when I was first furloughed in the spring I thought that I needed to start using my time. This has meant lessons, apps and discernible progress, though I think my teacher may be about to notice that I have been spending more time listening to Russian rock music and watching Russian films and TV than assiduously studying my grammar and vocabulary. I may say that it's also been nice to discover that I am still capable of learning a new language in adulthood. I learned to speak French as a small child and Spanish as a young teenager, and I haven't tried learning another language until now. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One of the films I have recently enjoyed is <i>Kharms</i> (2017, directed by Ivan Bolotnikov). You can watch it on the Kino Klassika Foundation website here, and the link also includes some very nice programme notes: <a href="https://www.kinoklassikafoundation.org/project/kharms/" target="_blank">https://www.kinoklassikafoundation.org/project/kharms/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can watch this for free for just a few days, until Tuesday 26 January at 12 noon GMT. I think it may only be available in the UK due to rights issues, but you can always check to see if it's available in your territory.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Kharms</i> is a film about the life of the surrealist Soviet-era poet Daniil Kharms. I was only vaguely aware of this poet, partly because he loved Sherlock Holmes and used to smoke a calabash pipe. 'Kharms' was a pen name and may be a reference to the Russian pronunciation of 'Holmes'. This was noted in the film by the poet's sartorial choices and one subtle joke. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The film isn't a strict biography; it celebrates the poet's work, his life in the beautiful city of St Petersburg/Leningrad, his friendships and romances. Colour and black-and-white film, static and moving shots combine to create a wistful and quirky view of different eras and events. The tragedy of Kharms' death by starvation during the siege of Leningrad is also part of the film. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Currently, Kino Klassika are sharing weekly broadcasts of Soviet, Russian, Caucasian and Eastern European films, but they are about to launch a dedicated online streaming platform of such films, called Klassiki. Given the centrality of poetry in Russian culture, I suspect there will be more tie-ins to poetry in the future. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-50637458369309027682020-12-31T17:41:00.001+00:002020-12-31T17:49:10.303+00:00A Few Nice Things To End Horrible, Nasty 2020<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">As 2020 draws to a close (and that's both sad and glad because it was a terrible year for everyone), I have a few more poetry successes to round up in this blog post.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A couple of months ago I appeared in the <a href="https://poetsdirectory.co.uk/spotlightpoets" target="_blank">Spotlight </a>section of Colin Bancroft's <a href="https://poetsdirectory.co.uk/" target="_blank">Poets' Directory</a>, and for some reason forgot to write about it at the time. Colin is a poet himself and has also started a press, Nine Pens, this year. The Directory is a wonderful resource and as part of the Spotlight I answered some questions about poetry in my life and also shared my poem 'Kingdom'. I was #17 on the <a href="https://poetsdirectory.co.uk/spotlightpoets" target="_blank">Spotlight</a> feature so you need to scroll down, but all the different profile of poets are fascinating and worth reading.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Matthew Stewart once again included <i>The Stone and the Star</i> on his excellent year-end roundup of <a href="http://roguestrands.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-best-uk-poetry-blogs-of-2020.html" target="_blank">The Best UK Poetry Blogs</a>, calling it "different, curious, always exploring poetry". Matthew's own blog <i><a href="http://roguestrands.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Rogue Strands</a></i> is always thoughtful and thought-provoking, as is his own poetry.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was delighted that the <a href="https://www.iambapoet.com/" target="_blank"><i>iamb</i> </a>website, where I was one of the first poets to appear when it started this year, nominated my poem <a href="https://www.iambapoet.com/clarissa-aykroyd" target="_blank">'I dream the perfect ride'</a> for a Pushcart Prize. <i>iamb</i> is the work of poet Mark Antony Owen and it features poems both in readable form, and recordings of readings by the poets. The website had a really amazing year and is definitely one of the poetry sites that you need to be browsing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, I was enormously pleased when my poetry publisher, <a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/" target="_blank">Broken Sleep Books</a>, won the <a href="https://michaelmarksawards.org/awards-2020/winners2020/" target="_blank">Publishers' Award at the Michael Marks Awards</a> a few weeks ago. The Michael Marks Awards are specifically dedicated to poetry pamphlets (rather than full-length collections) and they are run by the British Library, The Wordsworth Trust, Harvard University and The <i>TLS</i>. Winning a Michael Marks Award is really a wonderful honour and even being shortlisted was cause for great excitement. As my pamphlet <i><a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/clarissa-aykroyd-island-of-towers" target="_blank">Island of Towers</a></i> was published within the required dates for the 2020 awards, I played a small role as my pamphlet was part of the overall submission. I'm just as proud of all my fellow Broken Sleep Books poets. And I'm even more proud of the whole Broken Sleep team (which expanded this year, or was it last year now?) and above all of Aaron Kent, who runs the press. Aaron was extremely ill earlier this year and thankfully has made a good recovery. I'm so happy that he was able to end 2020 in such a positive way and that we all played a part, because we needed that.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(And by the way, if you would like a copy of <i>Island of Towers</i>, you can of course buy direct from Broken Sleep Books on the link above. But I also have some copies to sell, sign and send out, so please get in touch here if you would like a copy, or on my Twitter account: @stoneandthestar)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm sending a big hug to everyone who reads this blog and asking you to take good care of yourselves and others in 2021. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-57364861849791286462020-12-22T16:34:00.001+00:002020-12-26T18:15:08.086+00:00In memory of John le Carré, 1931-2020<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBGS4tqGsFhCzRcFN17ssrdCUt4k_jpd_5YZ1PWfi0gQ3IuUtyMMf0N8rpV45Zct3DPwdTKEm2PcG0OjQxjrQ2lJjBGP2v1-V629gGmjaJjtz7b8yg9joiirlYvZQKpb-cLT1sf_1fjZ0/s1080/723px-John_le_Carre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="723" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBGS4tqGsFhCzRcFN17ssrdCUt4k_jpd_5YZ1PWfi0gQ3IuUtyMMf0N8rpV45Zct3DPwdTKEm2PcG0OjQxjrQ2lJjBGP2v1-V629gGmjaJjtz7b8yg9joiirlYvZQKpb-cLT1sf_1fjZ0/w268-h400/723px-John_le_Carre.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Ten minutes to midnight: a pious Friday in May and a fine river mist lying in the market square. Bonn was a Balkan city, stained and secret, drawn over with tramwire. Bonn was a dark house where someone had died, a house draped in Catholic black and guarded by policemen. Their leather coats glistened in the lamplight, the black flags hung over them like birds. It was as if all but they had heard the alarm and fled. </i>(John le Carré, <i>A Small Town in Germany</i>)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">Bonn was a Balkan city, stained and secret... Bonn was a dark house where someone had died...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">John le Carré died on 12 December at the age of 89. The shock felt more considerable than it probably should have considering his advanced age. I considered him my favourite living author, and as with Ursula Le Guin (who died in 2018), longevity was a factor. I was reading both of them by my early teens, if not before, and for many of us very little that follows will have quite the same impact. Others have written more eloquently about his significance as a spy writer, and simply as a great writer. For me his work is deeply personal, and I know that I'm not alone.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I recall le Carré as a sort of mysterious concept before I recall him as an author. My father was often reading his books when I was a child, and I would also see them in the library. In the slightly over-dramatic cover art of the 1980s, 'Le Carré' in huge letters would take up 90% of the space on the cover, and it was years until I learned this was a pseudonym (his real name was David Cornwell). There was something both intimidating and alluring about this monolithic concept.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">At some point in junior high, when I would have been 12 or 13, I read <i>The Spy Who Came In from the Cold. </i>My memory of that first reading, or at least a part of it, is extraordinarily vivid. I was sitting outside at lunchtime, on a sunny and quiet staircase round the back of the school, and riveted to the book. What I remember is reading this passage:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"As he stood there peering into the room, surprised to find it empty, the door behind him closed. Perhaps by itself, but Leamas made no attempt to open it. It was pitch dark. No sound accompanied the closing of the door, no click nor footstep. To Leamas, his instinct suddenly alert, it was as if the sound-track had stopped."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My reaction to this was absolutely visceral. I remember feeling frozen to the spot - somewhat like Leamas himself. At the moment when the door closed I am pretty sure that the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. In my memory, this is when I knew that I would go on reading this author. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There is a way in which memory flows in all directions, in time or in our lives (and I am not sure that time is linear, although we perceive it as such). What I don't know is whether I remember such moments so clearly because they pointed the way forward, or whether they have later taken on a greater significance. I'm not sure it matters. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are many, many le Carré moments in my life. I remember reading <i>Absolute Friends</i> on a Mallorca beach holiday 15 years ago with my parents, when my father had finished reading it. I remember reading <i>Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy</i> exactly ten years ago while visiting my friends in Japan, and being utterly confused but knowing that it was going to be important. And although I never met him, I was fortunate to see le Carré four times. The first was at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's Southbank, in 2008, when he gave a talk for the release of <i>A Most Wanted Man</i>. I cannot forget the thrill of seeing him walk onto the stage. In 2011 (I think) he read from <i>The Spy Who Came In from the Cold</i> on Trafalgar Square, for World Book Night, saying "I want you to imagine that this is the Brandenburg Gate". Later that year I saw him at the premiere of the <i>Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy</i> film, and I was as delighted to see him as I was to see the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch and Colin Firth (or very close!). And in 2017 I was in the second row at the Royal Festival Hall, a night attended by a cross-section of the literary and artistic world, when he gave a spectacular speech about his life (and George Smiley's) for the release of <i>A Legacy of Spies</i>. The advantage of living in London is that your life can be full of such highlights; le Carré's appearances were especially bright ones, for me. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the past ten years, I engaged with le Carré's work more intensely than I had previously done. I have joked that moving to south London and, for a while, having a view of MI6 from my window had an effect, but it's actually possible; geographic locations have quite an powerful effect on me. Although I had been writing poetry for about as long as I'd been a le Carré fan, I also started writing poetry more intensely in the past ten years, and publishing. Here and there, I also found his influence creeping into my work, whether in the occasional poem actually about spies, or in some acerbic tone or wry observation. Le Carré loved poetry, too. In <i>The Russia House, </i>he quotes Stevie Smith and Theodore Roethke in the space of one page. <i>Our Game</i> references Osip Mandelstam. <i>The Honourable Schoolboy</i> opens with Auden's famous lines: "I and the public know/What all schoolchildren learn,/Those to whom evil is done/Do evil in return." Perhaps most tellingly, George Smiley loved "the lesser German poets". </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I have realised that we create a kind of internal genealogy for ourselves. We find the things that matter and they become linked together into a system or a map, and that is who we are, at least in part. The lamplight falls especially brightly, or at least with a particular light, on certain people, places, beliefs, concepts and artistic works on our map. John le Carré's works reside in one of those pools of light, for me. It is very hard to now say goodbye. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image: John le Carré at the 'Zeit Forum Kultur' in Hamburg, 2008. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_le_Carr%C3%A9#/media/File:John_le_Carre.jpg" target="_blank">Photo by Krimidoedel. Used under Creative Commons license</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-77505117604942925522020-11-28T21:41:00.001+00:002020-11-28T21:43:04.046+00:00Remembering Paul Celan, 1920-1970<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid3bVDx1zdzB6caKGenV7zTs3ODfTlLygeYFjKJkCkThItizaZU7Bqoar2NX-OLVDnxbS6owFuGRwTDN5ryKAyINYWWxOBY70JJXaeb0BdXaYKmP_8BR5TLSMWxbJHHq4fy15AZODejZ4/s673/Celan_passphoto_1938.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="452" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid3bVDx1zdzB6caKGenV7zTs3ODfTlLygeYFjKJkCkThItizaZU7Bqoar2NX-OLVDnxbS6owFuGRwTDN5ryKAyINYWWxOBY70JJXaeb0BdXaYKmP_8BR5TLSMWxbJHHq4fy15AZODejZ4/s320/Celan_passphoto_1938.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">November 2020 is the centenary of Paul Celan's birth, and in 2020 it is also 50 years since he died. I have often written about him in this blog, but it has been lovely to see him widely commemorated this year and especially in this past month, even if many events had to be moved online due to the pandemic. And this has its advantages - in the past couple of weeks I attended a couple of excellent Celan events from Deutsches Haus in New York, despite living in the UK. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While Celan's poetry is often considered difficult, he has managed to gain legions of readers who haven't been put off by this discouraging label and who often (like myself) can't read him in German, the language in which he wrote most of his poetry. Sometimes if I'm looking at Twitter late at night (a bad habit) I find myself searching to see who's tweeting about Celan all over the world (a good habit, or at least a better habit). English is by no means the dominant language, and I'm not sure German is either - he seems particularly popular in Spanish and Turkish. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Celan's identity is very difficult to pin down in any way. He was Jewish, but that isn't necessary the dominant influence on his work (although it is massive). He was German-speaking but not German. He was Romanian, but his hometown of Chernivtsi is now in Ukraine. His greatest poetic work came from years in Paris, and he worked as a translator with many languages. All of this has probably succeeded in making him more universal. His poems are like radio transmissions directly from his mind and heart, in an new language, untranslated, somehow and mysteriously unmediated in a way that is different from most other poetry. The silences, gaps and elisions in his poems are also like the moments when the radio waves break up - but they are entirely deliberate, an essential part of the work of art, at times the most essential.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My love for Celan's work has sometimes puzzled me. He is not particularly like any other poet or writer that I love. The fact is, though, that he is simply not much like any other poet or writer at all. While his work evidently poses many extreme difficulties for translators, there is no question that the emotions carry across and pierce through. Celan's poems can seem surreal or abstract but they often refer to very specific people, places, events. To know him fully, perhaps these need to be unpicked to a level most of us never will reach. And yet Celan himself said that his work could be understand if readers would simply engage and read the poems again and again. At one of the events I attended, the author Paul Auster said that Celan's intellectual prowess was immense but that the defining factor and what has made his work so loved was the spirit, the emotion that burns from him onto the page. The Celan expert Christine Ivanovic said that even when you engage deeply with Celan and read him again and again, there will be texts that you don't understand, but you still live with the words. This has been entirely my experience. I have lived with Celan since my late teens (which seems to have been a crucial moment at which many enthusiasts and experts encountered him.) I love and admire translations by dedicated translators such as Pierre Joris and John Felstiner, but in English Celan truly lives in me through the work of translator and poet Michael Hamburger, because that was the encounter from which everything else followed. There is always an encounter with Celan - there are many encounters and they persist and can last for a lifetime. He once wrote "I see no difference between a handshake and a poem," and this despite the extraordinarily personal and often mysterious nature of his work. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In some way I think about Paul Celan and his words every day. I feel as though a small, dedicated area of my mind (or perhaps more accurately, my heart) is occupied with his poetry all the time, even if I may not have read him for a while. He influences my own poetry and beyond that, he takes me to a Celanworld of such unique specificity and beauty that it hurts. His words are a place where no one else had ever gone and where we can all go now, across the threshold. "Louder whirring. Nearer glow. This world and the other." (from 'Under a Picture', translated by Michael Hamburger)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here are a few of his poems to read if you haven't before or if you wish to revisit him.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://poemsintranslation.blogspot.com/2010/01/paul-celan-death-fugue-from-german.html" target="_blank">Death Fugue (translated by AZ Foreman)</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=32085" target="_blank">Homecoming (translated by Michael Hamburger)</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=32090" target="_blank">All Souls (translated by Michael Hamburger</a>)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://poets.org/poem/corona" target="_blank">Corona (translated by Pierre Joris)</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://poets.org/poem/aspen-tree" target="_blank">Aspen Tree (translated by Pierre Joris)</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image: Paul Celan's passport photo, 1938. Author unknown. </span></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-2465643765943203642020-11-18T20:13:00.003+00:002020-11-18T20:13:56.749+00:00My poetry reading with Chris Kerr and Nisha Bhakoo on Thursday, 19 November<p><br /></p><p>On Thursday 19 November (yes, tomorrow!) at 7 PM GMT (UK time), I will be reading my poetry on Zoom with <a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/chris-kerr-citidyll" target="_blank">Chris Kerr</a> and <a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/nisha-bhakoo-black-white-dream" target="_blank">Nisha Bhakoo</a>, both poets who are also published by <a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/" target="_blank">Broken Sleep Books</a>.</p><p>Each of us plan to read for 10-15 minutes and it would be wonderful if you could join us from any time zone in the world that permits it.</p><p>The reading is free, but you need to register through Eventbrite and then you will receive the Zoom details to join the event.</p><p>To register, please go to the Eventbrite event page here: <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/broken-sleep-books-reading-with-bhakoo-aykroyd-and-kerr-tickets-129172898617?fbclid=IwAR3dRsqfq1DCzAfJIjR4ltDKsMtSf9GJhbc_lf8MUHoz6-qRp-YR1oS0E7M" target="_blank">https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/broken-sleep-books-reading-with-bhakoo-aykroyd-and-kerr-tickets-129172898617?fbclid=IwAR3dRsqfq1DCzAfJIjR4ltDKsMtSf9GJhbc_lf8MUHoz6-qRp-YR1oS0E7M </a></p>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-29523322843915657072020-10-02T12:22:00.001+01:002020-10-02T12:22:52.025+01:00In memory of Derek Mahon, 1941-2020<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjELAKWQ-xBihOGlLw-XMFsQ97dMz1fLn5vPJC2l3_wW4IiJpwsHznAvywOmPPtzdXlbef3N-JNxf-J6O3DecS-JIwHIZ3V22kL9WtjHEP8e7GpaiQ9u7_rsmPtW3HOD50N30iluchgAXQ/s2048/Derek_Mahon_in_Moscow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjELAKWQ-xBihOGlLw-XMFsQ97dMz1fLn5vPJC2l3_wW4IiJpwsHznAvywOmPPtzdXlbef3N-JNxf-J6O3DecS-JIwHIZ3V22kL9WtjHEP8e7GpaiQ9u7_rsmPtW3HOD50N30iluchgAXQ/s320/Derek_Mahon_in_Moscow.jpg" /></a></div><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Today I am looking at the London rain and crying over the loss of Derek Mahon, who has died at the age of 78. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Mahon meant as much to me as Heaney, if not more. He was a wry and delicate poet, a great stylist who could make a photograph in your mind or share a personal event and radiate it outwards to larger meanings. I have been reading him for decades and I cannot believe he is gone. So many of his poems are close to my heart. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I would have a hard time choosing a single favourite poem by Mahon - so many come to mind, including <a href="https://thestoneandthestar.blogspot.com/2011/10/oblique-light-derek-mahons-courtyards.html" target="_blank">'Courtyards in Delft'</a>, <a href="https://thestoneandthestar.blogspot.com/2015/07/lost-people-derek-mahons-disused-shed.html" target="_blank">'A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford'</a>, 'The Chinese Restaurant in Portrush', <a href="https://www.pnreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/scribe?item_id=7065" target="_blank">'Dog Days</a>' - the list is long. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One of my strongest contenders, however, is 'Kinsale' - a perfect short poem which captures a place, a mood, and optimism in the face of Ireland's difficult histories. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is a video recording of 'Kinsale' released just a few weeks ago, read by Tony O'Donoghue and produced by Made to Measure Films Kinsale. I love this poem dearly and think of it often. <a href="https://www.kinsale.ie/2020/08/13/famous-poets-words-inspire-new-film-about-kinsale-and-national-recovery/" target="_blank">https://www.kinsale.ie/2020/08/13/famous-poets-words-inspire-new-film-about-kinsale-and-national-recovery/ </a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There is an excellent obituary here from the <i>Irish Times</i>: <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/derek-mahon-one-of-ireland-s-leading-poets-has-died-aged-78-1.4370324" target="_blank">https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/derek-mahon-one-of-ireland-s-leading-poets-has-died-aged-78-1.4370324 </a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I will always miss Derek Mahon. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo: Derek Mahon in Moscow, 2010. Photo by Marina Masinova. Used under Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 4.0</span></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-42536544962860929262020-10-01T16:07:00.000+01:002020-10-01T16:07:23.408+01:00National Poetry Day 2020: Vision<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVdJviM0eqCYuiTjHOkXiuwdEB7cnyVjbiid2St0Mv2oVIAnAvhrzsN5YqnamwDxQSIadaXOLwUhguJ3OBeHZ4H3maGMmvAUK5eohyphenhyphen1uiXD2HjhpBtYDexqCQpPvQQ_Lv8U3aMvsForcU/s1567/NEW_NPD-LOGO+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="1567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVdJviM0eqCYuiTjHOkXiuwdEB7cnyVjbiid2St0Mv2oVIAnAvhrzsN5YqnamwDxQSIadaXOLwUhguJ3OBeHZ4H3maGMmvAUK5eohyphenhyphen1uiXD2HjhpBtYDexqCQpPvQQ_Lv8U3aMvsForcU/s320/NEW_NPD-LOGO+%25281%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Today is <a href="https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/poems/poems/" target="_blank">National Poetry Day</a> in the UK, and the theme for 2020 is 'Vision' or 'See It Like a Poet'. There are many wonderful resources and poems available on the National Poetry Day website, and a lot more out there generally on the internet (even more so than usual this year, of course...) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Wandsworth Art has done a 'Wandsworth is poetry' feature to mark the occasion, and delightfully, I am included as a Battersea/Wandsworth poet, alongside excellent contemporary poets and the greats of the past such as Edward Thomas and Thomas Hardy. You can read it here: <a href="https://wandsworthart.com/wandsworth-is-poetry/" target="_blank">https://wandsworthart.com/wandsworth-is-poetry/ </a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(Thank you so much to Hilaire, another poet who lives locally, for getting me on this list!) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Black Bough Poetry</i>'s 'Deep Time Volume 1' issue, published in print during the summer, is now also online and includes my poem 'Open Ocean'. You can download it <a href="https://ab383967-0580-4a42-9850-61bcae6657e9.filesusr.com/ugd/065db4_58ce25ad6a7c48bea958eed781e8ea8e.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. Buying the print issue is also highly recommended, particularly as the artwork is beautiful and more so in print. You can buy it <a href="https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Black-Bough-Poetry-Deep-Time/dp/B08928JBHD/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=deep+time+volume+1&qid=1601563970&sr=8-1" target="_blank">here</a> in the UK and also on Amazon in other countries. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Muse Pie Press, who have published several of my short poems over the years in <i><a href="http://www.musepiepress.com/shotglass/index.html" target="_blank">Shot Glass Journal</a></i>, recently crowd-sourced a 'pandemic poem' from writers who they have previously published. We were asked to contribute a line responding to our feelings about the COVID-19 pandemic, which could then be woven into a long poem. You can now read the ambitious and startling result <a href="http://www.musepiepress.com/pandemic.html" target="_blank">here</a>. I could ask you to guess my line, but rather than do that, I'll tell you that it's 'Waking to light's anxiety - the distance of all things'. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-79559204195364423952020-08-27T16:48:00.001+01:002020-08-27T16:49:51.457+01:00Victoria Kennefick: 'Cork Schoolgirl Considers the GPO, Dublin 2016'<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPz0mtSLyg1rXko-RRl3Ni0FKasw0rv_-GiA1AllDPLjJXZvwEGX-OZ2H6ROtP1maDqfGnX2PWXHCXJ-E6Mkjgr48Bqmex359K2WbVuHkUNZdH9F1YWD9pQVLzOCLfRrL4Amoq6RbfyvE/s1539/1539px-The_shell_of_the_G.P.O._on_Sackville_Street_after_the_Easter_Rising_%25286937669789%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1539" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPz0mtSLyg1rXko-RRl3Ni0FKasw0rv_-GiA1AllDPLjJXZvwEGX-OZ2H6ROtP1maDqfGnX2PWXHCXJ-E6Mkjgr48Bqmex359K2WbVuHkUNZdH9F1YWD9pQVLzOCLfRrL4Amoq6RbfyvE/w512-h359/1539px-The_shell_of_the_G.P.O._on_Sackville_Street_after_the_Easter_Rising_%25286937669789%2529.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>I recall first reading Victoria Kennefick's poem 'Cork Schoolgirl Considers the GPO, Dublin 2016' at least a couple of years ago. The poet is from County Cork, Ireland, and the poem was first published in <i>Poetry Ireland Review</i> in 2016, around the 100th anniversary of the Easter 1916 Rising. (The GPO, or General Post Office, is one of the most famous buildings not only in Dublin but in all of Ireland, because it was the headquarters of the Easter Rising.) Now, you can both read and listen to a reading of the poem here, on the <i>iamb</i> website: <a href="https://www.iambapoet.com/victoria-kennefick" target="_blank">https://www.iambapoet.com/victoria-kennefick</a> </p><p>This is absolutely one of my favourite poems of the past several years. In 20 lines, Kennefick captures humour, pathos, history, and the total insanity of being a teenager - the latter being possibly the most difficult accomplishment of all. </p><p>The poem pays tribute to "those boys in uniform" but it also captures the problematic ways in which our countries teach us history: "all the men of history sacrificing/themselves for Ireland, for me, these rebel Jesuses." This obviously isn't a particularly healthy perspective, but what brings me close to tears in these lines is also how true it is to how teenage girls think, or at least some teenage girls. Falling in love with dead heroes is just the kind of thing a lot of us did at 16. At the end of the poem, when the speaker says "I put my lips/to the pillar...I kiss all those boys goodbye", we understand that some day she'll look back at this as a crazy, sentimental, teenage moment. And yet, we also kiss those boys goodbye along with her and we feel the poet's empathy for those in history who were lost to war, and her equal empathy for the wild emotions of the teenage years. </p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland/6937669789/" target="_blank">Image: The shell of the GPO on Sackville Street (later O'Connell Street), Dublin in the aftermath of the 1916 Rising. Date: May ? 1916 NLI Ref: KE 121</a></span></p><p><br /></p>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-90112966528638472082020-08-16T20:56:00.002+01:002020-08-16T20:57:27.814+01:00New poems up on Anthropocene<p> Once again, distraction takes charge: I think I was pretty convinced that I had already written a blog post about the following.</p><p>I've had a couple of poems published on the <i>Anthropocene</i> website, another excellent online journal published by Charlie Baylis (who is also Chief Editorial Advisor with my publishers <a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/" target="_blank">Broken Sleep Books</a>. Yes, I love saying "my publishers".) You can read them here: <a href="https://www.anthropocenepoetry.org/post/2-poems-by-clarissa-aykroyd" target="_blank">https://www.anthropocenepoetry.org/post/2-poems-by-clarissa-aykroyd</a></p><p><i>Anthropocene </i>is a very impressive journal which has also published the likes of Vahni Capildeo and Mark Waldron, among others. As for my poems 'Brush Pass, Royal Albert Hall' and 'Scarlet', it will come as a surprise to hardly anyone that the first one is inspired by spies and the second by Sherlock Holmes. Especially in the case of 'Scarlet', though, I think you could read them outside of those contexts and still find a way in. </p><p>Rereading 'Brush Pass, Royal Albert Hall', which I wrote a while ago, made me miss the Proms terribly in this pandemic year. In a "normal" year I always go at least a couple of times and usually feel as though I should have gone more. The Gallery, in particular, with people wandering up and down and behaving mildly oddly, is an excellent location for the discreet exchange of secrets. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-607719101484462692.post-8198944671212735242020-07-31T22:59:00.001+01:002020-08-01T13:40:52.832+01:00Dear readers...all my recent poetry updates<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Zqaqu94B5PYTcCXqsajNIbpMZxiC6k8VTyhs9aLVpZdP7lyuilw8WHGQv2jWyc_y3oMRWQGZHqLrZJ0u4Wv_jia3U4SFqbQWPanQzQIQldgLcoah57RFdHzWynCAabBtOluhyENhu_4/s1600/IMG_20200730_200545510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Zqaqu94B5PYTcCXqsajNIbpMZxiC6k8VTyhs9aLVpZdP7lyuilw8WHGQv2jWyc_y3oMRWQGZHqLrZJ0u4Wv_jia3U4SFqbQWPanQzQIQldgLcoah57RFdHzWynCAabBtOluhyENhu_4/s320/IMG_20200730_200545510.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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It's hard to believe that it's over two months since I last posted, but also not hard to believe. I've moved house and returned to work (though soon again to be not working, for a while), which technically are my excuses but I think that a lot of us have found it difficult to concentrate enough to write much during the pandemic, even though (in some cases) we have more time than usual.<br />
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I also feel that a lot of my blog posts have been very self-focused lately, and this one will be no exception. I'm not entirely happy about that and really feel that I need to start making more of an effort again to write about poems, rather than just what I've published lately.<br />
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That said...here we are with my updates, all of which happily do concern other poets and publishers as well.<br />
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Colin Bancroft has recently set up a new website called <a href="https://www.poetsdirectory.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Poets' Directory</a>, where he generously and usefully posts information about journals, publishers, events and so forth in the UK and Ireland. There is also an extensive list of <a href="https://poetsdirectory.co.uk/Collections" target="_blank">Collections, Pamphlets and Chapbooks</a> by poets in the UK and Ireland, which includes my <i>Island of Towers</i>. And there is a showcase of poems from these collections, which now includes my poem <a href="https://poetsdirectory.co.uk/Showcase" target="_blank">'As though we lived falling out of the skin into the soul'</a>. This website is really a remarkable resource and is well worth your time.<br />
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I've just had a new poem, 'Open Ocean', published in the latest issue of <i>Black Bough Poetry</i>. This special issue is Volume 1 of a theme around Deep Time, inspired by the work of Robert Macfarlane in his acclaimed book <i>Underland</i>, and it will soon be appearing online but for now is only available in print. You can find all the details on this website, including several wonderful reviews (one of which specifically mentions my poem!) and information on how to buy the print edition: <a href="https://www.blackboughpoetry.com/deep-time-project" target="_blank">https://www.blackboughpoetry.com/deep-time-project</a><br />
I highly recommend buying the printed version, partly because of the wonderful poetry by so many poets including Paul Brookes, Ankh Spice, Matthew M.C. Smith (also the publisher of <i>Black Bough</i>), Jenny Mitchell and Robert Minhinnick, among others. But the artwork by Rebecca Wainwright is absolutely stunning and beautifully reproduced in this edition.<br />
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The superb <i><a href="https://www.iambapoet.com/" target="_blank">iamb</a></i> website, which features poetry read by the poets and which included a few of my poems in its 'wave one', has gone from strength to strength. It was shortlisted in the prestigious Saboteur Awards, and its 'wave three' is just about to appear - you can already see which poets are featured, including the likes of Aaron Kent (my publisher at Broken Sleep Books!), Jorie Graham and Victoria Kennefick. <i>iamb</i>'s publisher Mark Antony Owen was also kind enough to nominate my poem<a href="https://www.iambapoet.com/clarissa-aykroyd" target="_blank"> 'I dream the perfect ride'</a>, which appears on the website, for Sundress Publications' Best of the Net 2020.<br />
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Finally, I had an acceptance which won't appear for a while but which I'm excited about. My publishers <a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/" target="_blank">Broken Sleep Books</a> are preparing an anthology to be published in 2021, featuring poems based on vintage video games, and I'll have a poem about a classic role-playing game in the anthology. We've already been informed that the anthology will appear in two slightly different versions/editions, with covers in Mario Red and Luigi Green...<br />
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I hope that you and yours are staying as well and safe as possible.<br />
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<br />Clarissa Aykroydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08571136118573329263noreply@blogger.com0