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

Appliance Books, Ipswich IP1 6DU

Keith Dersley is, as always, his own man. He knows what he wants to write about, how he wants to write it, and stays with that, like Charles Bukowski, one of his heroes. His unique brand of stark, unvarnished verse predated the tough–nut poets of the Nineties who found such favour with judges and publishers. Now, as the 21st century rediscovers the flaws and fallacies of the 20th, he looks back on his writing life and reflects upon

All the stuff that was supposed
to occur before Ron got MS,
before Teddy married and left his motorbike,
before his younger brother died of drink and
long, long before I was a total failure

But Dersley can’t be seen as a failure, exceptperhaps in the eyes of those editors he satirises in ‘Rejection Note’:

Thank you for letting us see your work
which we found enjoyable
but the fact is we print
very little enjoyable poetry

– having to leave space for ‘the dull/ sort of stuff you see everywhere’ because it’s written by other members of that non–
existent poetry establishment.

‘Literary Wangles’ shows Dersley as one of those who have found a way out of that particular poetic cul–de–sac. Via ‘that luminous/
slate through which the/ internet arrives’ they are ‘pouring into it/ what no one can take away.’

Oh, you mean setting up another website full of egotism and no–hope poetry? You certainly can’t say that about
www.raggededge.btinternet.co.uk, which gives us a much fuller picture of what he can do than this collection of mainly occasional
pieces and memories.

So are you saying: visit the site and don’t buy the book? Not at all. Those endless reams of online poetry and prose still haven’t made printed books obsolete. Scribbles and Squibs is a much handier way to keep and take your vital dose of Dersley. It’s like a health supplement. The claims on the package have perforce to be limited, but once you’ve taken it for a while and the benefits are obvious, that doesn’t matter any more. Poetry seems a brighter, fresher place.