Tag: brian patten

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Brian Patten

I too was very sorry to hear Brian Patten had died (I was reminded of this in reading Mat Riches blog post in which he talks about having sent Patten some poems as a youngster and got a kind letter in reply – how lovely! Imagine writing letters. I did once get a kind reply to a fan letter I sent to Philip Schofield. But let’s not go into that!)

The Liverpool Poets loom large in my early days of reading poetry. I never saw Brian Patten read, but I did contact him a couple of years ago hoping he might agree to be interviewed for Planet Poetry, He replied that he wasn’t feeling up to it, but wouldn’t rule it out in the future. Sadly that future has now run out, and I feel the poorer for it.

One of my favourite poems in ‘New Volume’ was the last in the book, Patten’s ‘On Time For Once’, which I share with you here.

On Time for Once by Brian Patten

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Current poetry reading and podcast prep

Poetry books I'm reading

My phase of reading nowt but historical novels is over (for now) as I get my poetry head back on in preparation for Season Four (gulp!) of Planet Poetry.

First up, I’ve been doing a deep dive into Leontia Flynn‘s brand new collection Taking Liberties (Cape). It’s wonderful work and I’m feeling quite energised by it (meaning: it’s inspired me to write something that may be a poem.) I’ll be interviewing Leontia on the pod, really looking forward to that.

Also on the ‘to be read’ pile is Caroline Bird‘s The Air Year (Carcanet) which picked up a whole ton of awards in 2020. I’ve not yet been hit by the ‘Bird Love Bomb’ that many others speak of, so I shall read it with keen anticipation.

I was a fangirl in my teenage years of Brian Patten, and I’m still hoping we can coax him onto the poddy. In the meantime I’ve been loving, loving his Selected Poems (Penguin 2007). Even lovelier is that having bought it second-hand, I discovered it’s a signed copy, ‘To Liz’ – the name I was given at birth. Spooky!

I’ve also recently read another prize-winning collection Hannah Lowe’s The Kids (Bloodaxe 2021) and enjoyed it immensely. Recommended.