Heaney and the neighbour: poetry between politics and ethics

In this essay I argue that Heaney uses the figure of the neighbour to examine questions of otherness and cultural difference and their relationship to history and politics. The neighbour is of course a figure that has played a central role in Western philosophy and theology for centuries, from the Gospels and Kant to Freud and Lacan. It is also a concept to which Western poetry often returns, particularly in the work of Herbert, Clare, Eliot and Auden. Heaney too belongs to this tradition, in that his oeuvre contains many poems which consider the relationship between neighbours, and do so in ways profoundly suggestive for consideration of the relationship between historical events, social structures, cultural difference and psychic affect. In my essay I argue that Heaney sketches a profoundly materialist conception of subjectivity in its relationship with the Other. In doing so I contrast Heaney’s treatment of the neighbour, with its emphasis on questions of politics and locality, to the treatment of the neighbour in the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas.

Teaching poetry in the early years

The chapter begins by establishing the key features of poetry itself and of poetry in the early years of schooling. A case study of how poetry is taught and learnt in one Reception class (ages 4 - 5 years) is presented, in this way demonstrating what excellent practice might look like. Poetry for listening to, for performing, for word-play, for responding and for writing are all covered. The chapter ends with advice on 'where do I start in teaching poetry?'

Vernacular poetry and the spiritual Franciscans of the Languedoc: the poems of Raimon de Cornet

This chapter, in a book devoted to examining the importance of heresy in the construction of cultural identities in Europe, examines the evidence from recent historical studies of the Spiritual Franciscans for the further contextualisation, and better understanding, of the autobiographical allusions and ideological remarks of the 14th-c. troubadour Raimon de Cornet

Incense and insensibility: Austin on the 'non-seriousness' of poetry

What is at stake when J. L. Austin calls poetry ‘non-serious’, and sidelines it in his speech act theory? (I). Standard explanations polarize sharply along party lines: poets (e.g. Geoffrey Hill) and critics (e.g. Christopher Ricks) are incensed, while philosophers (e.g. P. F. Strawson; John Searle) deny cause (II). Neither line is consistent with Austin's remarks, whose allusions to Plato, Aristotle and Frege are insufficiently noted (III). What Austin thinks is at stake is confusion, which he corrects apparently to the advantage of poets (IV). But what is actually at stake is the possibility of commitment and poetic integrity. We should reject what Austin offers (V).

‘The Pages are Bugged': the politics of listening in the poetry of W.S. Graham

This paper probes the public dimensions of the work of the twentieth-century Scottish poet W. S. Graham. It draws upon the public contacts and contexts that Graham's lyrics structure and reconfigure, in texts that have appeared to critics to demonstrate the poet's textual aloneness, his intellectual and geographical banishment. Repeatedly addressing his St Ives community of artists and writers, lovers and companions, Graham's work sets up strategic routes through a succession of publicly-minded verbal engagements. Refusing to allow one passively to listen in to the poet's isolation, the lyrics invite, rebuff, tease, avoid, dally with, and proposition audiences and interlocutors. Graham's poetry speaks from within and without tradition, location and heritage, subtly attuning readers to the politics of its handling of national allegiance, identity, class and patronage.

Luciano Erba: l'ultima intervista

This is the transcript of the last interview of Luciano Erba, held in February 2008, when the poet visited the Italian Department of the University of Reading as part of a UK tour to celebrate the publication of The Greener Meadow: Selected Poems, the English translation of his poetry by Peter Robinson, issued by Princeton University Press in 2006. The interview offered the opportunity to review Erba’s long career as a poet and assess the impact of some key cultural figures and events on his poetics