Demanding poetry is rewarding poetry. A lot of ‘popular’ poetry is self-limiting and repetitive, obedient to the fashions and plausibilities of the day. You don’t need to belong to a school to see this.
- Michael Schmidt
Reflecting on the role of an editor in his introduction to the Carcanet Press-published New Poetries V, the poet Michael Schmidt observed: “Where there are schools they look out for the truants.” Starting on Saturday 22 November, a week of free events will celebrate the creative truancy that characterises some of the best poetry in Cambridge.
Co-organised by Schmidt, a writer in residence at St John’s College, John Wells of the University Library, and Vahni Capildeo, the new Judith E. Wilson Creative Writing fellow, and involving numerous other Colleges as well as the University Library, the “Cambridge Poetry Collection”, will feature readings by some of the leading poets connected with Cambridge at the moment.
They include John James, Clive Wilmer, Mark Ford, Simon Jarvis and the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. In addition, there will be opportunities to hear work by new poets, many of whom are current students or staff members at the University. The aim is to enable as many people as possible to enjoy a celebration of the current poetry scene in the University city, while also encouraging dialogue and discussion between its constituent parts. It will also draw attention to the University Library’s expanding archive of Cambridge poets’ manuscripts.
The Cambridge Poetry Collection will run from Saturday 22 November until Friday 28 November, with free events open to all throughout. Full details can be found at the dedicated website here.
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Image: Detail from a draft of “Moonrise” by Anne Stevenson, who will be appearing as part of the festival. The University Library holds a growing collection of manuscripts by Cambridge poets.
Credit: University Library, Cambridge
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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