Eye On Jack Beeching

John Tranter, the editor of Jacket, recently drew my attention to the curiously-undervalued work of the poet Jack Beeching (pictured, above, with his wife of the time, Catherine, off Ibiza, in the 1960s).

Beeching's poetry is impressive, lovely and often unique, and it is hard to understand how or why it has been allowed to become so marginalised, unless one stops to consider how actually convoluted and concentrated poetry publishing - and more to the point, reviewery - often still is in England.

I'll be seeking out his Modern Penguin Poets 16 selection from 1970.

Here are some links to good articles on Beeching in Jacket, and some of his poems:

http://jacketmagazine.com/26/beech-l-w.html

http://jacketmagazine.com/29/beech-wood-luck.html

http://jacketmagazine.com/26/beech-5p.html

Comments

Unknown said…

Just to point out that I was on this boat when this picture was taken. Jack Beeching is on the right. The woman is Catherine (Kate) Dolan, the wife of John Antony West on the left.

John

Fri Oct 31, 12:00:00 pm 2008

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