Unfurl the latest copy of Poetry News and you’ll find poems by Claire Booker and Andy Hickmott, selected from among 313 entries to the magazine’s competition on the theme of ‘Unsayable’.
Six poems were selected anonymously by Katrina Porteous, who specialises in radio poetry, and whose new collection, Two Countries’ is due from Bloodaxe in 2014. This is what she had to say:
“‘I didn’t like Seamus Heaney’ by Andy Hickmott shocks, because so many of us loved him. But I think it earns its right to do so. I like it for saying what we think should not be said, and for using that trope to lead us gracefully to what indeed is not said until those quietly devastating last lines.”
“‘What Cannot Be Said’ by Claire Booker, nails the detail of intimacy and simply rings true. The rhyming couplets, risky to some modern ears, reinforce the clock’s relentless tick.”
To read either of these poems, or the other four winners (by Suzanna Fitzpatrick, Sue Leigh, Denise McSheehy and Marie Naughton) check out Poetry News (Winter 2013/14) or click on: http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/publications/poetrynews/pn2014/
Andy and Claire both belong to ‘Original Poets’ who meet every month in Clapham, south London, to feedback on poems; whether from long-established writers or those new to poetry. The ‘Originals’ occasionally perform their work, most recently at ‘Beyond Words’ in Gipsy Hill, ‘Poetry Unplugged’ in Covent Garden’s Poetry Place, and at a legendary Poetry Bonanza event: Clapham versus Brixton. New members are always most welcome.
For more information on Clapham Original Poets please visit: Facebook page
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