E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

SPOILER WARNING - THIS REVIEW CONTAINS INFORMATION YOUR EYES MAY NOT WANT TO SEE JUST YET.... North Americans have to wait for November 6th to see the 24th official James Bond film, SPECTRE , released - however, it has now been playing since Monday in British cinemas, so it is hardly reasonable, after hundreds of online media reviews, for Eyewear to hold back any further, especially given a) our longstanding history of engagement with the Bond franchise which we take seriously and b) since the film itself is about intelligence gathering (and leaking). The series was rebooted in 2006 with Casino Royale , after the Pierce Brosnan age, which, in retrospect seems a sunnier, more upbeat time, more like the Roger Moore films, and turned over to the ruggedly (even lopsidedly) handsome Daniel Craig , who brought a Rugby player's physique to the role (and, as the series developed, a surprising humanity). Casino Royale introduced a shadowy cabal of villains out to get Bond, a...

Ben Mazer Interviewed by Robert Archambeau [Note: This interview will appear as the Afterword in Ben Mazer's new collection of poems The Glass Piano , forthcoming from MadHat Press on November 1.] THE AMAZING MAZER, ALWAYS AN EYEWEAR FAVOURITE RA : I'd like to begin with process. Often, poets have spoken of their process as one or another kind of mixture of deliberation and intuition—whether they call the intuitive element "the muses" or (in Jack Spicer's case) a radio transmission from Mars. How does a poem begin for you, and what happens once you have the initial impulse? BM : Jack Spicer was deeply in love with the relatively unknown but deeply brilliant poet Landis Everson, who in turn, late in his life, fell deeply in love with me, so I not only know all of the Spicer literature, but have heard many intimate, off the record stories of Jack's thinking about poetry, and his methods of composition. Like many of the best poets,...

TRIGGER WARNING - AN ADULT POEM FOR HALLOWEEN... LESBIAN VAMPIRE ACADEMY It is not, one might suspect, a place for sisters To swallow a garlic tablet, or inspect a crucifix; Lipstick applied strictly without mirrors; The librarian expects Swinburne’s books Returned to the minute or penalties accrue; Turned at eighteen from mortal to undivine, They prefer their correction on the rack Wriggling as they divest them of mortal wine – The inside gag they have to label our blood – For make no mistakes, these fanged co-eds With their skirts and blouses kill for sport Like gods did once; they’re the new thing, Digitally connected to the boys they lure To suspend upside down, pleading anaemia Or malaria or worse – girls long in tooth, Their claws decreased for Instagram, their busts Instead pronounced – most from Slavonic Lands, or so they sound – they smirk, and grind Their words like chewing bones, torture Syntax because they can; whip their torsos In...

Leah Fritz reviews A WorldElsewhere by Shanta Acharya   A World Elsewhere, by Shanta Acharya, is a novel about India, in particular its conventions regarding women. Although the English it is written in is faultless, its style is as Indian as a film by Ravi Shankar – which is no mean feat. This book is an excellent read but it is necessary to remove Western spectacles and imagine oneself in the faraway country it's about as if it's your own, in order to glean its conventions as if you are a native. Attitudes toward women are strange everywhere of course, and wife-battering, for instance, is not unknown in the West – far from it! – but the particular justifications for being cruel to women are as different from one country to another as their languages. This novel is placed in Orissa, India. Acharya intersperses Indian words within English sentences and, although there is a glossary at the end of the book, I found I was able to read them in the text almos...

Adele, whose new video is here above, is only 27. Her previous albums have sold more than any other recording artist of the 21st century - and now, her new song, cheekily titled 'Hello', is as big a song as any by Cher, Bonnie Tyler , or Celine , in their heyday - it recalls the huge moments of the 80s, when Madonna , Michael Jackson, Sting and Elton John made videos that broke millions of hearts, or thrilled millions more.   This is classic pop - filmed on the outskirts of Montreal in a sepia landscape of tottering barns and falling Maple leaves - the London phone box in the woods and the African-American lover from "the town where nothing ever happened" - strangely at odds with the lyrics about calling from California - but it works.   Damn, does it work. Adele has never looked more powerful or glamorous - she is beauty personified, in voice and persona - yet she is also a villain in this song, a daring move.  Drenched in irony and regret, I dare you to...

In one of the oddest moments of 21st century history, the German Government has strongly laid claim to total responsibility for The Shoah (the Holocaust) as a rupture in human civilisation and argued it must continue to teach and defend this historical reading of German guilt. The gut-wrenching irony which is almost beyond my ability to comprehend is that the denial of this official history was presented by the leader of the Jewish state of Israel. Germany it seems is laying claim to its modern existential identity as the post-Holocaust nation as guardian of both guilt and solemn reparation. Whereas for Netanyahu the Holocaust seems to be a more free-floating thing capable of new definitions and even origins. For him the victims remain undeniably the same but the causation can be shifted without existential damage to Israel because in this new foundation story of the Holocaust the chief villain is not a slain ghost like Hitlerism but the current foe - Palestinism. Fascinating and w...

Canada has elected Justin Trudeau to be their new PM, in a sweeping and somewhat unexpected victory for the Liberals over the nasty Harper government, which was linked to right-wing elements in America and was a climate-change denying party opposed to Canadian multiculturalism.   After almost ten years of such conservative rule, Canada had begun to look like it was being run as a branch plant of Haliburton, and racism and environmental degradation was on the rise. Trudeau, the son of the greatest Canadian leader - Pierre Trudeau , a stylish pacifist intellectual who saw bilingualism and internationalism as the way forward for Canada - ran a flawless campaign, led by the brilliant Gerald Butts - a former debating partner of mine back in university days - a campaign which emphasised decency, community spirit, optimism, and fairness.   In a moment of calm sanity, Canadians voted out a terrible government and have ushered in a rule that promises to be balanced an...

Please check this list twice and let us know who we should add! Thanks. Eyewear Young UK Poets List, A Work In Progress (poets must be born in or since 1970) Abigail Parry Ahren Warner Alice Willington Alistair Noon Amy De'Ath Amy Evans Andrew Bailey Andrew Fentham Andrew Spragg Angus Sinclair Anna Kisby Anna Selby Anna Smaill Anne Welsh Ben Borek Ben Parker Ben Stainton Ben Wilkinson Beppe Bartoli Bethan Tichborne Caleb Klaces Camellia Stafford Camilla Nelson Cath Nichols Chloe Stopa-Hunt Chris McCabe Chrissy Williams Christopher Crawford Colette Sensier Colin Herd Declan Ryan Edward Ragg Eileen Pun Elizabeth Guthrie Elizabeth Stefanidi Elizabeth-Jane Burnett Emily Berry Emily Critchley Emily Hasler Emily Toder Fabian Macpherson Frances Leviston Hannah Silva Harry Man Hayley Buckland Heather Phillipson Heidi Williamson Helen Mort Holly Corfield Carr Holly Hopkins Holly Pester Ian Pindar Ishion Hutchinson Jack Underwood ...

AUTUMN LAUNCH PARTY WITH WINE, POETRY READINGS AND SPECIAL PERFORMANCE BY EYEWEAR! 8TH OCTOBER 60th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL:  LIVE READING OF HOWL BY EYEWEAR TEAM AND EYEWEAR POETS    Oct 8th. 2015 LONDON REVIEW BOOKSHOP , BLOOMSBURY , 19:00-22:00 An amendment to our last letter: Please arrive at 7pm and RSVP to info@eyewearpublishing.com Remember, tomorrow evening we are celebrating National Poetry Day and the 60th Anniversary of the first live reading of Howl. The Eyewear team will be doing a special rendition for your pleasure, ...

Eyewear blinked and now we are back - the blog that is... a whole new autumnal season of posts about music, books, film, TV and politics will come your way, as well as prize-winning poems and other reviews and guest spots. Stay-tuned!