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

Pity poor Pat Schofield . By all accounts, an unremarkable mind, she has become immortalised by the satiric pen of the major British poet, Carol Ann Duffy . At first, I sided with Duffy in this, as a poet myself, who knows poems need snow and gunshots (to paraphrase Truffaut ) - and Schofield is an epically-proportioned dunce, for trying to ban Duffy's poem because it deals with a violent subject matter (murder by knife); especially ironic, this, in the country of Romeo and Juliet , and Hercule Poirot. However, has Duffy not killed a flea with an A-bomb? By titling the poem with a real person's name, has she not been, ultimately, a tad too cruel? Even Yeats and Swift , in their satiric swoon, often titled their invectives less directly. This poem could practically be mailed in the post. I fear, this streak of brilliant malice may cost Duffy the position of laureate - we can't really have the Queen's rep naming and shaming dumb citizens at will, can we? Imagine if ever...

I had a fun night reading as guest poet at poet Angela France 's Buzzwords series, in Cheltenham last night - it's a tight-knit group of serious, local poets, who gather for workshops, open mics, and guest readings, every month, back of a pub. The sound system is professional, and the listening mostly very attentive. The poets presented a strong field during the open mic. They also buy books, a good sign. But, what is it with poetry events? I know it's not just me. After a long (40 minute) reading (I was asked to do that much), which had gone over well an "actor" in the room sidled up, fixed me with that gleam I know so well, and began to tell me how to "improve my reading for next time" - offering some unasked-for tips. Never mind that it was now 10 pm, I was tired, and looking forward to the justly-deserved after-reading pint. Poets, it seems, are afflicted with such amateur critics, because, I suspect, few who attend such events fathom the effort, en...

Eyewear is very glad to welcome Craig Santos Perez (pictured) this Friday. He is a native Chamorro from the Pacific Island of Guahån (Guam), and has lived in California since 1995. He is the co-founder of Achiote Press and author of several chapbooks, including all with ocean views (Overhere Press, 2007) and preterrain (Corollary Press, 2008). His first book, from unincorporated territory , has just been published by Tinfish Press. His poetry, essays, reviews, and translations have appeared in New American Writing , The Colorado Review , Pleiades , The Denver Quarterly , Jacket , Sentence , and Rain Taxi , among others. He is currently a PhD candidate in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. from descending plumeria for my cousin, renee ~ (it's renee, my auntie jeanette cried into the phone) renee. had moved to san francisco after high school to become an artist. (that night) she was a passenger on a motorcycle. at an intersection. a car ran a red light and...

This is a close American election now. The battleground states that matter are few - it may come down to Ohio, for instance. Anyone who wants to write off John S. McCain as some kind of Bush Mark II or III are being simplistic. McCain is a maverick, and he does represent fundamental change. It is different in kind from Obama 's, but it ain't gonna be business as usual. Take his speech of last night . Some are saying it was weak, or muted. No, it was soft-spoken, but underlined with steel. At the end, when McCain, in his last 50 seconds, repeated, growing in speed, "fight with me, fight with me", I saw an outcome where they do fight with him, and the Republicans win. Few Americans can call on their fellow citizens to fight, without it seeming silly or sinister - but McCain said it, and it sounded both moving, and modest. "Nothing is inevitable" he said. I'd bet on that. Obama has to fight harder in the next 55 days. Let's hope he does.

The Tudors is an abomination. Eyewear does not dismiss all televisual eyecandy - seriously immoral, or moral, viewing, both have their offerings to consider. However, amoral TV is the most grievous harm, to body and soul. It drips cynicism like some circus barkers do sweat. Last night's (on British terrestrial) episode of the Tudors was simply bad karma in two dimensions. It purported to engage with the tragic, moral martyrdom of Saint John Fisher and Saint Thomas More , at the hands of pragmatic Protestant king Henry VIII (here slimmed down to a lithe sexual predator with a nu-metal band member's facial hair) - and their fine splitting of theological and political hairs, regarding conscience, and obediance (church and state matters); while, equally, celebrating the bedroom romping of a king whose finger merely has to crook to conquer young starlets. This approach may make good TV (after the watershed) - but sits poorly with the solemn, heart-rending bloodshed whacked down...

Alistair Noon reviews Zeitgeist Spam by John Bloomberg-Rissman If someone out there has access to a complete database of 20th century poetry in English, plus a bit of spare time, could they confirm the following for me? The word “stone” turns up a lot in mid- to late Modernist poetry. Eliot ’s “dry stones”, in an early Modernist poem ruminating on a crisis in Western thought, are soon reappropriated by the next generation for their associations of permanence. “Stone” becomes almost like a magic word uttered to hold back the collapse. For Romanticism and the evocation of beauty as something we can all sense, the counterpart – please run this through the appropriate database too – might be “flower”. What, then, is the key word of Postmodernism? Ipso facto, I guess there shouldn’t be one single term, but John Bloomberg-Rissman may have hit on a candidate with the second half of this book’s title. From the printed catalogue sent five times to the same address, to the current statistic o...

The news that an anthology for students in Britain that contains a "violent" poem by major British poet Carol Ann Duffy is to be destroyed , is alarming. Eyewear has long bemoaned the "nicing-up" of poetry in the UK, where some in government want "innovation" without pain. Poetry, friends, is not all fun and games - sometimes someone writing or reading does lose (or gain) an eye. Poetry, since at least Poe , has been disturbing - and even in The Bible , horrifying subjects are treated. In fact, if all books with violent themes or issues were to be culled from UK schools, none would be left, or few worth reading. This reactionary attack is meant to appear tough on the causes of crime, but is really just a dumb stab in the dark at that easiest target to wound: poetry (and by extension, culture). Poets, and those who love poetry, should defend this anthology, and this poem - and stop its destruction at the hands of Gradgrinds.