Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Anne Stevenson - poet and playwright.

I am very pleased with this photograph of the poet Anne Stevenson I took at the Chester Literature Festival on Monday night.


Anne Stevenson is an endearing person, not at all precious, and I think that she has a mischievous streak. I say this because in the second half of the evening she read out 'the Myth of Medea' (from her last book, STONE MILK) with my friend Alan Wall, and she read lines like 'Scum! What assistance can a nerd like you give me?' with obvious relish. The subtitle of the play is 'An Entertainment' which it certainly is!


Anyway, her poetry entertained me so much (there were serious thoughtful sorts too) that I bought her complete works - an impressively large book (over 400 pages) - and I am going to have a good time dipping into this over the next few months... and years.

On the subject of time, I shall end with the first few lines from her poem 'Jet Lag'
Most of the time my age fits me exactly;
The clock on my wrist keeps time
with the clock inside me;
The seconds pile minutely into days,
Thickening into wrinkles of Sundays and Mondays...

5 Comments:

Blogger Anne S said...

Clare, A lovely photo - beautiful composition and it captures the character of the subject.

Fri Oct 24, 10:37:00 am  
Blogger Clare Dudman said...

Thanks very much, Anne...ha, just thought - another Anne S!

Fri Oct 24, 11:06:00 am  
Blogger Kay Cooke said...

I have come across Anne Stevenson poems in my wanders ... and always liked what I read of her work. So, it's great to read that she's a real person!! And a nice one too by the sounds. :)

Wed Oct 29, 09:42:00 am  
Blogger Feyzan Bedenli said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

Sat Oct 22, 06:30:00 pm  
Blogger Clare Dudman said...

Book Depository send books to everywhere in the world, I understand. You could order it from them. The webpage is here: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Stone-Milk-Anne-Stevenson/9781852247751

Failing that, I am sure that if you contact the publisher, Blood Axe books (http://www.bloodaxebooks.com/articles.asp?id=44) they'd be happy to oblige.

Best wishes with your studies!

Sun Nov 06, 12:32:00 pm  

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