Literature: Contemporary Poetry & Identity

This ten-week course will explore at least five poets (two weeks per-poet) from the Bloodaxe Books anthology Identity Parade: New British & Irish Poets. Over the course of these sessions we will consider how the subject matter, style and cultural positioning of these poets from a range of diverse backgrounds contributes to a sense of a contemporary poetic identity in the individual sense, but also as far as we might be able to gauge more generally the ‘state of affairs’ of recently written poetry in the English language. We will examine the background of each poet we read along with reference to quality critical appraisals of each one. The sessions will combine close-reading and audio-visual materials with lively, inclusive and hopefully invigorating discussion. Whether you are just coming into poetry or have been reading and/or writing it for some time you will be welcome along to these sessions.