Tears in the Fence 82 Reviews Reviews Reviews

I have two reviews in the latest Tears in the Fence:  

‘Poetry’s Geographies: A Transatlantic Anthology of Translations, eds. Kathleen M. Heeden and Zoë Skoulding, Tears in the Fence 82: Autumn 2025

‘A Line of Tiny Zeros in the Fabric: essays on the poetry of Maurice Scully, ed. Kenneth Keating, Tears in the Fence 82: Autumn 2025

This is to add to the review in the previous issue:

 ‘Dante’s Purgatory [sic] by Philip Terry’, Tears in the Fence 81: Spring 2025.

I wrote about this sudden spate of reviewing some few posts ago, and I’m pleased here to be reviewing two outstanding books (an innovative book of translations and translators’ poetics and a fine book of essays on the excellent Maurice Scully, whose recent death was a horrible surprise).

 The reviews section, which has now grown to half the contents of the magazine is excellent and, when you add to that the ongoing reviews on its website, it is one of the most comprehensive cluster of (mainly) poetry reviews in the UK. It’s good to be part of it (my poetry has appeared for decades in the magazine, but this is a different enterprise, and involves a lot more work than the writing of many poems!

There are lots of other goodies in the issue as well: The critical section alone consists of the Editorial by David Caddy, Robert Sheppard on A Line Of Tiny Zeros In The Fabric, Robert Hampson on Andrew Duncan’s Beautiful Feelings, Chris Turnbull on Jennifer Spector, Guy Russell on Dominic Hand, Mandy Pannett on J.R. Carpenter, Andrew Duncan on New German Poetry, Nadezhda Vikulina on Caroline Clark, Peter Oswald on Paul Stubbs, Mandy Pannett on Lynne Wycherley, Andrew Duncan on Rachel Mann, Keith Jebb on W.N. Herbert, Steve Spence on Arcadian Rustbelt, Robert Sheppard on Poetry’s Geographies, Steve Spence on Plymouth Language Club, Keith Jebb on Frances Presley, Morag Kiziewicz ‘s Electric Blue 17, Notes On Contributors, David Caddy’s Afterword.

Two items here are particularly pleasing:

Steve Spence, ‘Arcadian Rustbelt – the Second Generation of British Underground Poetry’, Tears in the Fence 82, Autumn 2025.

David Caddy, review of Mary Robinson’s Selected Poems edited by Robert Sheppard in ‘Afterword’, Tears in the Fence 82, Autumn 2025.  

Steve Spence has some nice words to say about my work in this anthology, and about my work generally. Modesty forbids I quote it (though it might end up on the back of a book sometime).

David Caddy (who is the editor of Tears in the Fence) has a nice account of my edition of Robinson’s Selected Poems, which now has two reviews to its name.

Tears in the Fence may be bought and subscribed to here: Pay/Subscribe/Donate | Tears in the Fence, and see here: Tears in the Fence 82 is out! | Tears in the Fence

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My thoughts on reviewing are collected here: Pages: My Tears’ review of Philip Terry’s Dante’s Purgatorio and my own Dante project revived – plus thoughts on reviewing

I write about Arcadian Rustbelt and my part in it, here: Pages: Arcadian Rustbelt: The Second Generation of British Underground Poetry - some thoughts

The reviews of Mary Robinson are commented upon here: Pages: Reviews of my edition of the Selected Poems of Mary Robinson

More on Mary’s book here: Pages: Selecting for a Selected: The Poems of Mary Robinson 1

 

Here’s a random post (one of many) to catalogue my poetry contributions to Tears in the Fence: Pages: Two more sonnets from British Standards (from Keats) in Tears in the Fence 75. This one has videos of me reading two of the chosen poems.