Sad news. One of the greatest of contemporary fashion designers, Alexander McQueen, has been found dead at his home in London.
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
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A bit of additional sad news: Poets in North London and elsewhere have been mourning the deaths, within days of each other, of Phil Poole and John Rety. Phil was ill for a number of months and has written a wonderful collection of poems that will be published posthumously next week. Phil was a lovely man, a talented sculptor as well as a poet, with a delightful skewed sense of humour.
John died very suddenly of a heart attack. As you may know, he ran the Torriano Meeting House with his partner, Susan Johns, for 23 years, and also the publishing house, Hearing Eye. He had a huge, complex, extraordinary personality. His life was truly dedicated to peace and poetry, and I very much miss him.
All good wishes,
Leah