MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
I hear that you are launching a new Bread and Roses poetry award? I want to get some details off you about it but first, how’s the Culture Matters website going?
MQ: It’s going very well thanks. We set it up just over a year ago to provide a platform for the cultural struggle for democratic socialism. For us, it’s a modern version of what William Blake called the “mental fight” to build the “new Jerusalem.”
We run creative and critical material on all the arts, and also cultural activities such as sport, religion, eating and drinking etc. Even though we’ve no budget to pay for articles or poems or anything — including our own editorial input and technical support — we’ve attracted hundreds of articles and poems.
JULIA TOPPIN recommends Patti Smith’s eloquent memoir that wrestles with the beauty and sorrow of a lifetime
ANDY CROFT welcomes the publication of an anthology of recent poems published by the Morning Star, and hopes it becomes an annual event
ANDY CROFT rallies poets to the impossible task of speaking truth to a tin-eared politician
MIKE QUILLE applauds an excellent example of cultural democracy: making artworks which are a relevant, integral part of working-class lives


