I was always surprised at the number of people Harry Owen managed to entice to his open mike Reddits' poetry readings in Grahamstown. It may partly be the nature of the residents of Grahamstown. It's also that Harry's Reddits' events made poetry accessible and fun. Poetry or more accurately verse is not exactly, let's say… Continue reading No more poetry?
Category: Uncategorized
The Playfulness of Poetry
In Makhanya/Grahamstown for the National Arts Festival, I attended on Tuesday a Poetryfest event, this being two hours focusing on a poetic theme. Poetryfest is new, the initiative of the multi-talented Tsitsi Sachikonye. I had expected poet Harry Owen to be focusing, in his talk about the “Playfulness of Poetry,” on what might be called… Continue reading The Playfulness of Poetry
Harry Owen, a poet of the natural world and more
The Cull, new and resurrected poems by Harry Owen I received The Cull, a book of new and previously published poems, from Harry Owen some time ago and have put off reading it because work had taken my mind in other demanding, non-literary directions. In my experience, Harry’s poetry – and let’s dispense with artificial… Continue reading Harry Owen, a poet of the natural world and more
Love poems at Love Books
Well, not exactly love poems. To be sure, the poetry of Kerry Hammerton deals with the emotion that has fuelled thousands of poems, but it's earthier than that, locating emotion in the body that is the site of lust and other longing as we age. Her verse has been called brave, but while she eschews… Continue reading Love poems at Love Books
Poetry translation
What can would-be poets do while waiting for inspiration to keep from getting rusty? One tactic is translation. To translate properly entails getting to grips with the fine grain of language as well as tapping into creativity to capture the actual rather than the literal meaning of words and idioms. This exercises the poet's imagination… Continue reading Poetry translation
Reg Rumney 