Heaney wins 2010 Forward Prize

Seamus Heaney (who we’ve posted on a fair amount in the past: here and here) can at last add a Forward Prize to his long list of awards. Human Chain (available here) was named the best book of poetry published in the UK.

Julia Copus won the prize for best single poem, with ‘An Easy Passage.’ Read the poem at the Guardian. Hilary Menos won best first collection with Berg (available here).

From time to time, I’ll post an overview of the reviews for recent books – starting with Human Chain. Some are ecstatic, praising his humble style and unadorned, meditative verse. Others are less positive, citing the same qualities. Brandon Robshaw, in the Independent, sums up critical opinion: ‘The poetic voice is quiet and contemplative – perhaps a bit lacking in fireworks. But that is what admirers of Heaney love.’ The reviews:

• Adam O’Riordan, Telegraph: A
• Troy Jollimore, The Washington Post: A
• William Logan, NY Times Book Review: D
• Kate Kellaway, The Observer: A
• Brandon Robshaw, Independent: B
• Alan Taylor, The Herald Scotland: A
• John Boland, Irish Independent: C
• Eamon Grennan, The Irish Times: A

Monday links: summer digest

• A fair amount has been written on the suicide of Kevin Morrissey, managing editor of The Virginia Quarterly Review.  Suffice it to say, Morrissey’s work at one of our greatest literary journals will be missed. At this time, the winter issue has been canceled.
• The Forward Prize announced its 2010 poetry shortlist for the UK’s best poetry collection. The Forward Prize shortlist: Seamus Heaney’s Human Chain, Robin Robertson’s The Wrecking Light, Lachlan Mackinnon’s Small Hours (reported by PBS as “Lachlan McKinnon”), Fiona Sampson’s Rough Music, Sinéad Morrissey’s Through the Square Window, and Jo Shapcott’s Of Mutability. Before the winner is announced on October 6, I’ll be posting a roundup of criticism for the titles along with my own reviews.
• In case betting on high school track & field meets has gotten too tame for you. Ireland’s largest bookie has the Forward Prize spread: Lachlan MacKinnon on top with 5/2 odds.
• Rachel Zucker examines the long poem, leaving us with a strong and exhaustive list of modern pieces:
  

  I’m talking about “Hymn to Life,” “A Few Days,” and “The Morning of the Poem,” all by James Schuyler. I’m talking about The Descent of Alette, by Alice Notley; way, by Leslie Scalapino; Midwinter Day, by Bernadette Mayer; Autobiography of Red, by Anne Carson; My Life, by Lyn Hejinian; “Howl,” by Allen Ginsberg; “Song of Myself,” by Walt Whitman; Model Homes, by Wayne Koestenbaum; David Antin’s talk poems; “Not a Prayer,” by Heather McHugh; “A Poem Under the Influence,” by David Trinidad; Paterson, by William Carlos Williams; Iovis, by Anne Waldman; Tender Buttons, by Gertrude Stein; The Angel of History, by Carolyn Forché; The California Poem and The Book of Jon, by Eleni Sikelianos; Plot, by Claudia Rankine; Deepstep Come Shining, by C. D. Wright; “Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror,” by John Ashbery; Jane, by Maggie Nelson.

• The ALR’s poetry editor Jaya Savige takes a look at Australian literature and calls the publication of Philip Mead’s Networked Language: Culture and History in Australian Poetry a significant event for Australian poetry criticism. As of now, the book isn’t available for purchase in the US.

img/ Heidi Norton