The World Record: International Voices

Forgot to say you can read all the poems away from the Poetry Parnassus map in a book edited by Neil Astley and Anna Selby, published by Bloodaxe Books and Southbank Centre.

You can find out more about the book here http://www.bloodaxebooks.com/titlepage.asp?isbn=1852249382.

Geek inspiration

Inspiration can come in funny ways and odd places.

A geek example.

The credit card we know and love depends (or used to depending where you live) on magnetic film fixed to plastic. Forrest Parry, an IBM engineer, thought of the idea but he couldn't make it work. Nothing would stick one to the other.

Eventually fed up, he came home with several pieces of magnetic tape and cards. His wife Dorothea who was ironing wanted to get to her favourite programme on tv quickly thought of how to attach them: "Here, let me try the iron." She did and the problem was solved.

Iron heat was just enough to fix tape to card.

Thanks to Channel R for the use of this graphic.

Poetry Parnassus Olympics Update

Here is the wonderful map of poets further enhanced by the poems.

Who wins the gold medal?

You can find them here http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/interactive/2012/jun/26/poetry-parnassus-interactive-map.

Thanks to Electron08 for the use of the photo.

Ecopoetry and academia

"The dividing line between creative writing and climate science - sometimes thin - has been triumphantly dissolved. " Andrew Orlowski

Can you study ecopoetry? Well, it seems you can and in a scientific context at the University of East Anglia.

Its interesting looking new masters course in Environmental Sciences and Humanities is recruiting. Its blurb states amongst other things that it plans to gather "researchers in the environmental sciences, philosophy, history and literature to develop new ways of thinking about environmental change and social transitions".

 

Details of the course can be found here http://www.uea.ac.uk/phi/courses/ma-environmental-sciences-and-humanities#overview and a commentary from The Register here http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/02/rosie_may/.

btw image is the cover of the anthology Earth Shattering ecopoems edited by Neil Astley from Bloodaxe 2007 (ahead of the times as ever).

In a bookshop in Salamanca

Interesting to see only two English speaking authors translated and stocked in a big poetry section in this academic bookshop in Spain. Who were they?

Not surprised to see Seamus Heaney.

His companion: Leonard Cohen.

Elizabeth Jennings live

Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001) was an English poet and librarian. She studied at St. Anne's College, Oxford and worked in advertising, at the City Library and briefly in publishing before becoming a full-time writer.

Image by Peter Milroy

Listen to her work here: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoet.do?poetId=1554

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