THE SWIFT REPORT 2011

The London Underground Is Mine

I'll keep this short.  The Swift Report is my looking back on the highs and lows of my personal life - not the great perturbations of the times.  As news retrospectives will attest, 2011 was an extraordinary year of deaths, collapses, uprisings, and economic shifts.

This was the year I completed my PhD at the University of East Anglia; published my 7th collection, England Is Mine; and edited, with Kim Lockwood, an anthology for Oxfam of young British poets, due out spring 2012.  I also launched a small press, Eyewear Publishing.

I hosted some wonderful visiting poets, including David Lehman, Don Share, Jacquelyn Pope, and Ilya Kaminsky.  I saw my old friend Fabio Bagnara again, after several decades.  I hosted several readings for the Oxfam series.  And, at the end of the year, my brother, his wife, and my wee Godson, Alex, came to stay for Christmas.  We had a wonderful time.

This was also the year I co-judged the Gerald Lampert Awards, which was eventually won by Anna Swanson.  And was asked to write a special article for The Poetry Foundation on 15 essential Canadian poems Americans should read.  I also had reviews appear in Poetry London and Poetry Review.  Of course, I continued to edit this blog.

Plans for 2012 include writing an academic book on 1940s poetry; developing an idea into a screenplay; and writing a novel.

I also have an 8th poetry collection out, from Tightrope books in Canada, When All My Disappointments Came At Once, which deals with the anguish of infertility, depression, and overcoming physical illness.  Heavy going, but the collection explores these topics from the perspective of poetic style.

In the new year, a Dutch Selected of my work will also appear.  Lots to be proud of, and grateful for, last year - and much to look forward to in the year ahead. ps I also have fond memories of seeing Bob Dylan with Tim Dooley!