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New Poems 1 – Charles Bukowski
Although achieving a phenomenal amount of success during his lifetime, Charles Bukowski also left behind an unpublished literature of enough quality to create a decent reputation for any poet. As was his standard these poems vastly refer to his many relationships with women or his gambling addictions but alongside these are sweet pieces about his childhood and wonderful lifetimes of other writers which Bukowski was hugely influenced by. A largely individual yet vastly influential writer, Bukowski battled with alcoholism and ended his working life screenwriting in Hollywood; this has long been the basis of TV show Californication which borrows heavily from Bukowski’s life and literature.
Dead Sea Poems – Simon Armitage
One of a minority of British writers who have achieved mainstream success without having attended Oxbridge, Simon Armitage is a far more entertaining poet than Andrew Motion and yet manages to combine a wide vocabulary and extensive reading with relatively comprehensible poetry. The Dead Sea Poems begins with the narrator telling the tale of the man who buried his own poems only for them to resurface, after which we are treated to a collection of everyday tales of life, in the city, in the country, in a man’s head etc. Rhythmically the poetry weaves its way through the subconscious with the wonderful Scarecrow being the highest point of what is overall a high quality piece of literature.
Dead Leg – Ed Barton
A widely unknown poet on the British landscape Ed Barton has celebrity fans including comical mastermind Vic Reeves and his mix of everyday life and comical stories are a large part of his appeal. Mostly residing Up North his sense of humour comes from the same place that all the great Yorkshire poets and the Manchester comedians draw their inspiration. Ed Barton’s charm is such that at first glance you will read it as simple poetry, at the second you rate it as highly comical and by the third you go ahead and take all its clothes off.
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