When the ravages of Alzheimer’s leave an elderly woman marooned in painful memories of October 1950, her grandchild comes up with a creative strategy.
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2021 Round-up with Andy Croft
Andy Croft has been talking to other poets about the books of poetry they have most enjoyed reading in the last 12 months
New releases from Simone White, Brass Funkeys, and Souad Massi
SUE TURNER is compelled by a history that shows how far a country can turn in on itself to collude with abuses of power
RON JACOBS is persuaded by the parallel drawn between Charles Manson and Donald Trump
In this comparison of Britain pre- and post Thatcher, WILL POMORE applauds the analysis, but distrusts the solutions offered
MARIA DUARTE defends a solid, late-career Spielberg conspiracy flick that calls for empathy in a hostile world
MIKE CROWLEY
Simon Armitage’s Magnetic Field (Faber) is about the village of Marsden, midway between Huddersfield and Rochdale, where Armitage grew up.
Marsden has been a muse for Armitage for 30 years now, serving as a canvas as well as a subject.
On Marsden he paints the ordinary, sometimes the banal, as extraordinary and beautiful. He gives everyday actions and chores — home improvement, cutting the hedge, a walk to the shops, family meals — a sacramental significance.
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ANDY CROFT welcomes the publication of an anthology of recent poems published by the Morning Star, and hopes it becomes an annual event
RUTH AYLETT reviews two collections of outright political poetry
ANDY CROFT rallies poets to the impossible task of speaking truth to a tin-eared politician
The Labour Party proposal to scrap benefits for those unable to work will be debated in Parliament next Tuesday, and threatens the most vulnerable in our society. ALAN MORRISON presents some responses in poetry