Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
Latest editorial
If we must have a Poet Laureate, then let it be Simon Armitage
His new book reveals him to be one of our most inventive and popular poets
Tour guide to the contemporary world: Simon Armitage
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
THE CONTINUED existence of the Poet Laureateship in the 21st century is an embarrassing anachronism, just like the continued existence of the monarchy.
Some of our best poets have publicly refused to have anything to do with the job. Adrian Mitchell said he would only consider the role if he was allowed to “tap-dance on the coffin at every royal funeral” and Tony Harrison once wrote a long poem disqualifying himself from the job of “rat-catcher to our present queen.”
And Benjamin Zephaniah has said that he “does not need to go via the church, the state, or the monarchy to reach my people.”
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ANDY CROFT rallies poets to the impossible task of speaking truth to a tin-eared politician
Travelogue/reportage by Argentinean Maria Sonia Cristoff, and poetry by Peruvian Gaston Fernandez and Puerto Rican Cristina Perez Diaz
ALISTAIR FINDLAY welcomes a collection of essays from one of the cultural left’s most respected speakers and activists
A remarkable posthumous collection of poetry and other writings is a tragic document of genocide, and a beacon of hope for a Palestinian future, says HENRY BELL