CUCKOOSPELL

Review of Liddy 'Selected'

2011-10-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

Over on his blog, Michael Begnal, the editor of Honeysuckle, Honeyjuice, has written a positive review of Liddy's Selected Poems.

Irish Championships 2011

2011-07-13T08:58:00.001-07:00

As it happened, I managed to exceed my targeted performance in the Irish Chess Championship. I finished in second place, scored 7/9, and had a rating performance of 2397.

In the penultimate round, I was a little unlucky, when, in travelling to the venue, I was delayed by a double accident on the M50. This meant I got to the venue 35 minutes late and I didn't manage to win the game. I doubt it would have made any difference to the overall result, though, as Stephen Brady was simply playing too well.

I did particularly well with the Black pieces, scoring 4/4 (following 4/5 with Black last year). I even got away with playing the Nimzo-Indian, an opening I hadn't ventured for over twenty years.

After the launch

2011-06-30T04:06:00.000-07:00

James Liddy: Selected Poems was launched at the Irish Writer's Centre on Tuesday. There was a good crowd and five people gave readings from the book. Arlen House have done a fine job with the production of the Selected (including a limited edition hardback) and I am very happy with it.

Launch of Liddy's Selected Poems

2011-06-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

The Irish Times has looked forward to the launch of Liddy's Selected Poems on Tuesday. The Arlen House blog also has some details as well as an image of the book's cover.

Liddy

2011-06-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

A couple of things have come out recently. The most important of these is James Liddy: Selected Poems, which has just emerged from Arlen House. There will be a launch at The Irish Writer's Centre in Dublin on June 28 at 7.00 pm. Besides that, I've got a poem in the new Poetry Ireland and a review (of Hodge by Oliver Reynolds) in New Welsh Review. Meanwhile, I have an essay in the latest edition of The Reader on the relationship between poetry and computer games.

On the chess front, I recently played at the e2e4 event at Sunningdale. I came joint sixth in a group of players on 4.5/7 with a performance rating of 2265. Not so bad (my only loss was to GM Keith Arkell) and that was certainly a lot better than my performance of 2139 at this year's 4NCL. Probably the final event I will play this season is the Irish Championships in Dublin where I would like to improve on the score I got last year of 5.5/9.

Some new poems

2011-04-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

Some new poems of mine have gone up at John Hoppenthaler's site.

Poetry and Privacy

2011-04-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

It looks like my critical book is coming out with Seren in July 2012. The full title is: Poetry and Privacy: Questioning Public Interpretations of Contemporary British and Irish Poetry. I'll probably tweak a few things between now and publication day, but the set of chapters, if not the exact sequence, is fairly certain: (a) Mahon (b) Maxwell (c) Heaney and Plath (d) Minhinnick (e) Groarke (f) Burnside (g) Jones and Graham

Selected Poems of James Liddy

2011-04-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

I've been co-editing the Selected Poems of James Liddy for the past while. On my visit to Madison some weeks ago I was able to meet up with my co-editor, Tyler Farrell, with James's partner, Jim Chapson, and with Alan Hayes, the likely publisher of the book. It's possible that this volume, which will be a relatively selective Selected, may now appear sooner (i.e. this summer) rather than later.

Voyages Over Voices

2010-10-27T04:30:00.000-07:00

Liverpool University Press has just brought out Voyages Over Voices, which is a collection of essays on Anne Stevenson, as edited by Angela Leighton. I've got an essay in the volume, which deals with how Stevenson's poems often seem to have 'second thoughts'.

Reading with Peter Finch

2010-09-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

I've got a poetry reading coming up with Peter Finch on September 23rd.

Slanderous Tongues

2010-08-23T04:13:00.001-07:00

The latest edition of New Welsh Review has just appeared in my mailbox. Inside, I've got a longish review of Slanderous Tongues, an essay collection about recent Welsh poetry which is edited by Daniel G. Williams. There are also some poems by Meirion Jordan (surely a bright prospect) and Tim Liardet reviews the latest book by Gwyneth Lewis.

Irish Championships

2010-07-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

The Irish Chess Championship has just concluded in Dublin, and I finished in joint fifth place with 5.5/9 - my best performance since coming back to chess in 2006. My most memorable game was actually the one I lost to the eventual winner of the tournament, Alex Lopez from Cork. Apart from the debacle of misremembering the start-time for that game (which I could have forfeited - Alex sportingly agreed to play it out), it was a good event for me. Particularly with the black pieces where I scored 4/5, beating Mark Orr with the Leningrad Dutch and (somewhat fortuitously) winning a double rook endgame when two pawns down against Peter Cafolla.

Eyewear poem

2010-06-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

A new poem of mine has gone up on Eyewear. It's one of a series of poems about my experiences as a porter in Oxford.

You can't fax a handshake

2009-12-15T04:22:00.000-08:00

I like this expression, which is taken from a New York Times piece about Obama's recent meeting with Wall Street bankers.
On the news this week is disruption in the postal service. On a Radio 5 phone-in, I heard the anchor referring frequently to 'posties' instead of 'postmen' or 'postwomen'. I find 'postie' - a term which appears to have taken root - strangely unpleasant. I also dislike the expression 'toastie', which is used (in Liverpool anyway) for a toasted sandwich.
I shall have to mull this over at the weekend, when I'm making the mostie of my Sunday roastie.

The Poet's Perspective

2009-12-10T06:05:00.000-08:00

I've got a poem in The Poet's Perspective, a new book compiled and edited by Gladys Mary Coles. The book matches paintings in Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery to poems by a range of invited poets. My own contribution responds to a portrait of Edward Lear by Holman Hunt. The Walker has a particularly large holding of work by the pre-Raphaelites and these are duly reflected in the anthology. It's out from Headland Press.

Manchester Review

2009-10-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

I have four poems in the new online issue of the The Manchester Review. They are all centred on my 1990s sojourn in Oxford, especially my part-time job as a porter. There is even a reference to Eddie Jordan.

John Littlewood

2009-09-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

The British chess world is in mourning for John Littlewood, who passed away at the age of 78. I first came across this fine gentleman in his declining years, when he was active in the Merseyside chess league. On the website of my local club, John Carleton, has written a moving tribute.

The default poem

2009-08-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

I see that Rob Mackenzie, at Magma magazine, has picked up on my idea of the default poem. I think this idea came from being encouraged by a music review to listen for the notes which a particular musician did not play. Ever since, I've always thought it helpful to think about an art form from the point of view of what it is not doing - if nothing else it's a good way of avoiding default forms.

Tom Leonard

2009-07-30T02:42:00.000-07:00

I'm here at the IASIL conference in Glasgow. A few days ago, I was looking forward to a lunchtime reading by Tom Leonard at The Loft restaurant. Unfortunately, the sound system tanked. So Tom Leonard never actually said a word, but was reduced to looking rather pained as the diners carried on around him. I hope that is not the last chance I get to see him read.

New P. N. Review

2009-07-21T10:13:00.001-07:00

I'm in the new P. N. Review(188) with a review of Vona Groarke's translation of Lament for Art O'Leary. The same issue also has a good interview with Steve Burt, plus a new poem by R. F. Langley (who is about as under-rated as any poet I have ever read.)

Irish Chess Championship

2009-07-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

The Irish Chess Championship is currently underway in The Ballsbridge Inn, Dublin. After six rounds of the nine-round event I am in joint fifth place. There is some coverage of the tournament here including a video of part of my round 3 game against Seamus Duffy. Words like 'paint' and 'dry' do, however, spring to mind.

To read

2009-06-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

I always liked Robert Harbison's line, somewhere in Eccentric Spaces, to the effect that, "catalogues give you the feeling that there are more things in the world than you had remembered." Conferences make me feel the same way. A few days in sunny Galway at The American Conference for Irish Studies certainly made me feel like this. Anyway, some poetry collections I'm now looking forward to reading (or to getting hold of) include Chris Agee's Next to Nothing, Ed Madden's Signals, and Nathalie Anderson's Crawlers. Jefferson Holdridge's critical book on Paul Muldoon is also one for the in-tray. Finally, I'm quite keen to see the special issue of An Sionnach devoted to Paula Meehan.

Galway poetry reading

2009-06-09T13:07:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I'm taking part in a group poetry reading, in Sheridan's Wine Bar, Galway City. The reading part of a series called 'Over the Edge' and is taking place in collaboration with the American Conference for Irish Studies. It's a chance to catch with old friends, above anything else. It is also good that the conference are promoting a commemorative reading for James Liddy in Kenny's Bookshop (which used to be in the City Centre but is now on the Tuam Road) on Friday.

New York Times chess blog

2009-05-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, there is one - and it goes by the name of 'Gambit'. A recent post, which brought the blog to my attention, has some interesting thoughts about the use of chess in film.

Wurm im Apfel

2009-05-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

I hadn't read in Dublin for quite a long time, but finally got a chance to do so recently, at an event hosted by Wurm im Apfel. They have relatively regular readings in the Sycamore Club which is located in the Temple Bar area, above The Purty Kitchen. Apparently, they make a habit of recording their events, and so you can find my reading on their site.
Thanks to my hosts, Kit Fryatt and Dylan Harris.

Carsten Hansen

2009-05-11T04:23:00.000-07:00

One of the better chess sites at the moment is Chesscafe.com A recent review of a couple of opening repertoire books by Carsten Hansen made me think about the way reviewing cultures vary. Hansen frankly slammed two books by Nikolai Kalinichenko. About the first book Hansen says:
"This book is incredibly bad. Too many lines are covered insufficiently and many important options are ignored outright. On top of this, we have an unacceptable amount of references to the other volume; either you cover all the relevant moves or you do not. It is ridiculous to constantly refer the reader elsewhere for information that should be included here. This is one of the worst opening books I have ever seen."
Although harsh, this kind of review is not unusual on chess sites. To review a poetry book in such terms is, of course, a different matter ...

James Liddy

2009-04-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

I've just completed a piece about James Liddy for An Sionnach, an Irish literary magazine run out of Creighton University. Sadly, James died recently and, as his Irish Times obituary attests, he is much missed by his many friends on both sides of the Atlantic. He was very good to me when I was teaching at Macalester College.
The collections under review were Wexford and Arcady and Askeaton Sequence, both published by Arlen House. Despite being separate collections, the books contain exactly the same text on the back cover, including the following phrase, "With this collection it can be said the poet has become in charge of his literary undertaking: he has been able finally to write out his own language." Anyway, it is good to see these books, and we must hope, now, for a new Selected Poems.

Repossessions

2009-04-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

I've just sent in my review of Lament for Art O'Leary to P. N. Review. I recommend Vona Groarke's new translation, which is more informal and contemporary than earlier versions. Groarke's introduction also sent me off to read Sean O'Tuama's Repossessions which deals with a variety of Irish-language classics. I like the way in which O'Tuama describes how the Lament uses "the earth and stones of ordinary conversation," a quality which he associates with Revivial artworks like Riders to the Sea.

Suit of Lights

2009-03-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

I'm reading Suit of Lights by Damian Walford Davies in order to write about it in New Welsh Review. At first glance it looks pretty promising. Together with the recent appearance of Moonrise by Meirion Jordan, a book I liked a lot, perhaps this indicates that Welsh poetry, by younger authors, is in good health?