I own two books by Philip Gross – The Water Table (winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize in 2009), and Love Songs of Carbon (from 2015), both published by Bloodeaxe Books. I’m not quite sure why I only have two of his collections. In my opinion he is one of our best contemporary poets. I grew up in Somerset, so a lot of his location – based writing has deep resonance for me (Gross was…
Happy World Poetry Day! A good day to ask whether poetry is still relevant, whether it can actually achieve anything apart from providing an outlet for creative expression. In these current times of misinformation and misdirection, where here in the UK, as elsewhere, the government is becoming increasingly authoritarian, what can poetry do? A good day for this poem by John Agard. Flag What’s that fluttering in a breeze?It’s just a piece of cloththat brings…