Poetry

Poetry

It goes on one at a time,
it starts when you care to act,
it starts when you do it again after they said no,
it starts when you say we and know who you mean,
and each day you mean one more.

Marge Piercy

Muses and Bruises
Wednesday, 11 October 2017 15:27

Muses and Bruises

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in Poetry
Culture Matters has published a brilliant new collection of poetry called Muses and Bruises by Fran Lock, an activist, writer and illustrator, and one of the finest political poets writing in Britain today. Her feminist and socialist poetry weaves psychological insight and social awareness into themes of poverty, mental health…
National Poetry Day: Vignettes of Working Class Exhaustion
Wednesday, 27 September 2017 20:25

National Poetry Day: Vignettes of Working Class Exhaustion

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Vignettes of Working Class Exhaustion by Fran Lock Malkin Sacred, not wise, the black cat's acidcasualty stare, traversing a crumblingcul-de-sac, under a starlessly inkjet sky.We cross each other's path, and sheleans into my unluck, a clot of deeperdark, unstuck from the rest of the night.Then she is gone, the quick…
Plagiarism and the Privatisation of Poetry
Tuesday, 12 September 2017 15:49

Plagiarism and the Privatisation of Poetry

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The Guardian recently ran an article on plagiarism in poetry by Will Storr. Andy Croft, author of two very widely read and influential articles on Culture Matters, The Privatisation of Poetry and Poetry Belongs to Everyone, was interviewed at what was called 'an anarchist bookfair' (actually London's Radical Bookfair). It is very tempting to reduce these issues to…
The Trouble with Monsters
K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 02 September 2017 12:55

The Trouble with Monsters

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The Trouble with Monsters by Chris Norris Quick way with monsters: send a hero outFor mortal combat: sometimes he'll prevailAnd kill the beast, while other times he'll failAnd it will be his death that ends the bout. The point is, those old poets had it right,Those Greeks, and Romans, and…
The Peterloo Massacre
K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 26 July 2017 06:00

More than ‘Rise like lions’: Shelley beyond The Mask of Anarchy

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Mike Sanders writes about Shelley 'the Chartist poet' as a catalyst for working class creativity, how he envisioned a communist society, and how the privileged classes refused to hear the revolutionary meanings of his poems. One of the unexpected features of the recent General Election campaign was the ‘co-opting’ of…
A worker reads and asks questions
K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 25 June 2017 21:18

A worker reads and asks questions

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The recent election results showed a stunning level of support for Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party’s anti-austerity policies. Working people are clearly starting to ask more questions about who exactly produces the wealth in class-divided societies, including our own. Jenny Farrell’s father made this brilliant translation of one of…
 Zoë Kravitz
K2_PUBLISHED_ON Thursday, 08 June 2017 13:56

Staring Back

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Staring Back by Manash Firaq Bhattarcharjee The eye you see is notan eye because you see it;it is an eye because it sees you.~ Antonio Machado, ‘Proverbs and Songs’ You stare at her body. You don’t seeHer eyes seeing you. Her body is a blind mannequinOf desire. When she moves,…
Poetry, Unemployment and the Welfare Hate
Sunday, 26 March 2017 17:38

Poetry, Unemployment and the Welfare Hate

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Alan Morrison introduces his latest poetry collection, and calls for submissions for his latest anthology of political poetry. After seven years of what might be termed the ‘welfare hate’, with over 80,000 deaths (and suicides) among sick and disabled claimants between 2011-14, approximately 2,380 within six weeks of the DWP…
Andy Croft and Amarjit Chandan
Saturday, 04 March 2017 20:49

Asserting our shared humanity

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Andy Croft reports on his recent visit to Basra, for the Al-Marbed international poetry festival. I have never seen so many people at a poetry festival before – or so many Kalashnikovs. A few weeks ago I was in the southern Iraqi city of Basra with my friend the Punjabi…
Maple Leaf
Wednesday, 18 January 2017 09:39

A Coverlet of Green: In Memoriam John Berger

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A COVERLETOF GREEN by David Betteridge The bare and barren treecan be made green again...- Antonio Gramsci ¶ A boy cried.His bedside cup,brimful with milkbefore he slept, was emptynow, at morning-time.Not one drop he'd drunk.How, then, no milk? The culprit mouse,her creamy lips a give-away,felt sorry for the boy.And still…
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