Two new books from OA Poet

Anthony Barnett, OA has just published Listening for Henry Crowder, a monograph on his almost lost music with the poems and music on an accompanying CD. Henry Crowder travelled and worked with Nancy Cunard the daughter of the shipping magnate. This book proves that Henry was his own man and not just an adjunct to Cunard; as such he made a uniquely fascinating contribution to the jazz age.

The Archives have just acquired a copy of this book as well as the earlier Would you tread on a quadruped? (1992), in which Barnett's poems form an animal alphabet of questionable rhymes to accompany charming paintings by Natalie Cohen.

William Blake's 250th Anniversary

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of William Blake, the poet and artist, Radio 4 is broadcasting a series of programmes. All are available with the Listen Again facility.

On Poetry Please Roger McGough introduced some of Blake's lesser known poetical works like the short and lusty 'Are not the joys of morning sweeter' and his tirade 'O for a Voice Like Thunder'. The readers are Samuel West, Janet Suzman and David Collins.

The Afternoon Readings for the week of 26th - 30th November, was a series of short stories entitled Blake's Doors of Perception. The first No Trumpet Needed, written and read by Michael Morpurgo tells the story of the friendship between a cameraman filming on the West Bank and a shepherd boy. The last was May Malone by David Almond, which tells the story of May who keeps a monster in her house and invites young Norman Trench in to see her monster which he has heard by pressing his ear to May's back wall.

The Friday Play was The Tyger Hunt by Lavinia Murray. It imagines a surreal day in the life of the young William Blake. With a runaway tiger on the loose, William is out with his sketch pad to capture the magic of a truly enchanting and extraordinary afternoon.

On Book at Bedtime you can hear Burning Bright by Tracey Chevalier which has been abridged into 10 episodes and tells the story of what happened when Jem Kellaway and his family move from their Dorset home to Lambeth in London, and find themselves living next door to the eccentric but welcoming couple called Blake.

Finally, in The Poet of Albion, historian and biographer Jenny Uglow used William Blake's work to explore the idea that he was a political artist deeply at odds with his country, whose ideas were formed by the turbulent history of the time.

A Fool's Life

Akutagawa Ryunosuke's A Fool's life has been translated from the Japanese by Anthony Barnett, OA and Toraiwa Naoko. Akutagawa's writings include reworkings of motifs and tales of China's and Japan's past, modern fables, essays and a few autobiographical fictions which, like A Fool's Life, follow his intense engagement and difficulty with the world. He ended his brief life the month after completing A Fool's Life.

Anthony Barnett is not the first Old Alleynian to publish translations from Asia, EB Howell (1893-1897), translated Chin Ku Ch'i Kuan The Inconstancy of Madam Chuang and other Stories from the Chinese in the 1920's.

Anthony Barnett will be one of the subjects of an exhibition on Old Alleynian poets in the Wodehouse Library in February 2008.

The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry 2007

James Fenton, who was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry 2007 in April this year was interviewed last night by Mark Lawson on BBC Radio 4's arts programme Front Row. He will collect the award on Thursday from HM The Queen, at Buckingham Palace.

The following books are available in the Wodehouse Library:

Terminal moraine 820/FEN
The poetry quartets: 3 (2 cassettes) with Tony Harrison, Peter Reading and Ken Smith 821/POE
Translation by James Fenton of Tirso De Molina Tamar's revenge 860/DEM

It became apparent in the interview that he would rather receive this award than be made Poet Laureate. The award is made based on a recommendation by the Poet Laureate - currently Andrew Motion. He commented that although Andrew Motion's poetry had not suffered under the office, he felt that Ted Hughes' had. Fenton was honoured to receive an award which had previously been made to TS Eliot when it was The King's Gold Medal for Poetry.

You can read the citation on the Buckingham Palace website:
http://www.qmmemorial.gov.uk/output/Page5946.asp
or listen again to the interview from the BBC Radio 4 website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/frontrow/