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

John Humphrys , the BBC broadcaster, is in search of the elusive laurels of ultra-gravitas that descended on David Frost , the greatest media figure from the British isles (along with Malcolm Muggeridge and maybe Alistair Cooke ). Last week he broadcast his morning radio reports from Iraq (the safer British zone) and this week his BBC recordings include in-depth discussion with religious leaders from various faiths, on the question of God. I am always glad to hear intelligent debate on the issue of faith, especially as the UK is a startlingly atheistic (and perhaps not coincidentally often very selfish and materialist) society. However, Humphrys, who entered into dialogue with the Archbishop of Canterbury this morning, is the pouting answer to his own question. Rowan Williams , the Anglican who speaks with the media man, is tentative, light of touch, profound, agile, and above all, immensely patient. Humphrys wades in like a ten-ton baby grand crashing down some spiral staircase into ...

The Manhattan Review (founded and edited by poet Philip Fried ) is one of the best serious little magazines for poetry in America - and one of the only ones to that keep its finger on the pulse of contemporary British poetry. Its latest issue, Fall/Winter 2006-7 (vol. 12, no. 2) features poems and/or translations by marvellous poets such as Mahmoud Darwish, Marilyn Hacker, Polly Clark, Pascale Petit, W.N. Herbert, Yang Lian, Penelope Shuttle, Ruth Fainlight, Hal Sirowitz, and many more. It also has a review of the Oxfam CD, Life Lines , which I edited this summer and which has so far sold over five thousand copies since its launch four months ago. The reviewer, Frank Beck , says: "it is hard to imagine how anyone with an interest in poetry in English could fail to find this recording fascinating." To order this essential CD online, go to the link below: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/online/poetry.htm To learn more about The Manhattan Review and order it, go to: http://www....

Eyewear is thrilled and happy (not always a combination you'd expect) to welcome Hal Sirowitz as the Friday poet. Sirowitz (pictured) is the former Poet Laureate of Queens, New York. His latest book, Father Said , was recently translated into Icelandic. He's the most popular translated poet in Norway. He is also one of the greatest of the first wave of American slam poets, whose work arose during the heyday of the Nuyorican readings. His Mother Said poetry collection is a best-selling classic, merging humour and poetry in a new key. Time Magazine has called him "a bit of a cult hero". He's one of the truly unique voices in contemporary American writing today. I've included him in as many of my anthologies as I could, from Poetry Nation , to Short Fuse , to Babylon Burning . Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome, Hal Sirowitz... Pride Not Deserved You can't have a sex life unless you have sex, father said. You can't have a post-sex life either. All...

William E. Stobb is a fine American poet, and a commentator on poetry. The link below leads to his thoughts on the e-book anthology I recently edited for Nthposition . http://www.miporadio.net/WILLIAM_E_STOBB/index.html

Eyewear thinks you'd enjoy Snorkel , the lively and innovative online magazine that aims to connect Australian, New Zealand and international poets generally. Oh, I have a poem in this issue, too, so an added incentive to check it out. http://snorkel.org.au/004/

For those into constraints, of a poetic nature, the latest from Lance Newman ... http://3by3by3.blogspot.com/

Only in England would the literate (if not literary) media still be bamboozled about Paul Muldoon (pictured) or rather, flabbergasted or then again puzzled - by his command of word-play, puns and other linguistic paraphernalia in his writing. How else to explain the contrasting versions of Muldoonland displayed in recent issues of The Economist (October 21st-27th) and The Guardian ? The Guardian's Saturday book section ( The Review ) has rightly selected his latest collection from Faber, Horse Latitudes , as Book of the Week, snatching it from the ghetto of the poetry review demi-page. James Fenton , himself a former Oxford Professor of Poetry, and major English poet, welcomes the book, Muldoon's tenth, as "an event". But over at the (more conservative) Economist , the unidentified reviewer is more economical with their praise of another new Muldoon publication, his Oxford lectures, The End of the Poem . The reviewer of these 15 lectures seems slightly overwhelmed:...