Nthposition has just uploaded 13 poets for March, including Greg Santos, Jake Kennedy, Steven Waling, Matthew Gregory, Rachel Thompson, and Patricia Clark. I am handing over editing duties for half a year or so, starting with the June 2009 issue, to superb Paris-based poet Rufo Quintavalle.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
Comments
I would be interested in producing a book review for Eyewear. If it is available, I am interested in reviewing: Thayil, ed., 'The Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets'.
I would also happily review more than one book if that were possible and of use to you.
You can contact me by e-mail at: emrayfo@gmail.com
I am based in Australia.
Kind regards,
Robert Geoffrey