Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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Twenty-first Century Poetry
Reviews of latest collections from Ian McMillan and Culture Matters
UNIQUE: Ian McMillan
[Steve Bowbrick/Creative Commons]
SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
WHAT should poets write about this “golden age” of self-congratulation, authoritarianism, mendacity and xenophobia? What can they possibly say that will not be drowned out by the victory march of smirking fools and their cheerleaders in the national media?
Of course, some will rush for the prizes and awards still on offer and it will be interesting to see which poets can’t resist getting their hands on some of the £120 million that the British government is proposing to spend on the Festival of Great Britain and Northern Ireland next year.
No doubt, some poets will continue to play in the dressing-up box of narcissism and exhibitionism. Others will probably fall into sullen anger, despair and silence.
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