After a week enjoyably spent revisiting UNDER MILK WOOD, I’m keen to read or re-read some other favourite poets.
Dylan Thomas died in New York in 1953, a mere 38 years old, but probably the most famous, living poet writing in the English language. It wasn’t just the writing, His memorable, dramatic readings inspired Alan Ginsberg and the Beat Poets in the USA and many poets in the UK, not least the Liverpool Poets namely Roger McGough, Brian Patten and Adrian Henri.
Many of these British poets appeared on John Peel’s NIGHT FLIGHT show and the PEEL FANDOM site mentions how popular poetry had become in the 60s.. By 1965 the new poetry movement had become big enough to fill the Albert Hall; the “International Poetry Incarnation” reading held there drew 7.000 people and was an early manifestation of what soon became the UK underground culture
However, as it is almost Whitsun, instead of heading for Liverpool I’d like to take the highway to Hull and enjoy a train journey with a grumpy poet who had little interest in pop music. He did write jazz reviews but had little time for new-fangled, modern artists like John Coltrane and Miles Davis. » Continue Reading.
