For a number of months from January 2021 I started adding a blog post each week about a poet or specific poetry book that I own on my (rather large) poetry bookshelf. I’m planning on starting this up again soon. The posts aren’t necessarily a book review, more an introduction to the poet or collection concerned. It may be that I explain why I am drawn to these particular books or poets, or why they have been important to my own development as a writer. In other cases I’ll use the post as a way to explain something about the contemporary poetry ‘scene’ (such that it is at the moment!).
I’ll include external links to more detailed reviews, or where possible audio and / or video recordings of the poets reading their work. If it increases exposure for a particular writer in some slight way, and they then make the odd additional book sale then it will serve its’ main purpose. Poetry is not exactly the most well-paid profession, and most poets could do with a bit of extra support now and again.
There are two subsidiary reasons for publishing these posts. Firstly, it forces me to keep reading new poets, and keep going back to books that I may have forgotten to examine and in some cases remember, what it is about them that I like, what I think makes them good. This, I hope, will help me to improve my own writing.
If you want to support this blog by buying something on my poetry bookshelf, then please follow the below link – some of the books I have posted are out of print, but those that are still available can be found here;
https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/richardwilliamspoetry
Of course other booksellers are available, and you can usually buy direct from the publisher if you prefer.
In reverse chronological order the bookshelf posts are as follows -I’ll update this page each time I add a new post in the series.
From My Poetry Bookshelf – The Dredging of Rituals – Louise Mather
From my Poetry Bookshelf – Empty Nest – Poems for Families – Edited by Carol Ann Duffy
From my Poetry Bookshelf – Saturday, 3PM – Daniel Gray
From my Poetry Bookshelf – John Glenday – Selected Poems
From my Poetry Bookshelf – Tiger – Cliff Forshaw
From my Poetry Bookshelf – The Poetry of Birds – Edited by Simon Armitage and Tim Dee