Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

The following questions were sent to a number of poets, for them to answer individually or to use as a basis for a general statement about the writing of poetry today.

(a) Would poetry be more effective, i.e. interest more people more profoundly, if it were concerned with the issues of our time?

(b) Do you feel your views on politics or religion influence the kind of poetry you write? Alternatively, do you think poetry has uses as well as pleasure?

(c) Do you feel any dissatisfaction with the short lyric as a poetic medium? If so, are there any poems of a longer or non-lyric kind that you visualize yourself writing?

(d) What living poets continue to influence you, English or American?

(e) Are you conscious of any current ‘poeticization’ of language which requires to be broken up in favour of a more ‘natural’ diction? Alternatively, do you feel any undue impoverishment in poetic diction at the moment?

(f) Do you see this as a good or bad period for writing poetry?

ROBERT GRAVES

(a) Personal issues are all that interest people, not newspaper issues.

(b) I have no political and no religious affiliations.

(c) Lyric is a bad word: as connoting the incompleteness of a short poem which has no musical accompaniment. Campion’s poems are lyrics. Mine are not. The long poem may occur if one is in a diffuse or idle mood: but I haven’t written such for thirty years.

(d) None ever has: except in the capacity of a friend.

(e) English has been in decline as a reliable poetic language since 1650; but can still be used if one takes enough trouble with it.

(f) There’s nothing wrong with the period, but where are the poets?