Wednesday 15 February 2012

Just been reading Collected Poems by Frances Horovitz. Fantastic stuff. The sequence of poems about prehistoric sites is wonderful:but there is nothing less than good in this (all too brief) collection. I saw that it's being reissued by Bloodaxe Books in their latest catalogue - and this prompted me to take another look.  
There is a brief selection of clips of Frances H reading here 

I remember being introduced to her by my mother, which must have been in the late 70s when FH was a frequent broadcaster and reader. I think she was probably the first living poet I was aware of, perhaps along with John Betjeman (in his late 'cuddly national treasure' phase, appearances on Parkinson et al). And I remember - and deeply regret - missing the opportunity to meet Ted Hughes, who did a reading at the girls' school when I was in the 6th Form - and I was stuck in bed with a throat abcess...


“What a good use of life, to leave behind one beautiful book” (John Updike on Wallace Stevens)

No comments:

Post a Comment