I enjoyed this interview with Roger McGough in the Guardian.
This paragraph is typical:
McGough finds it demoralising when he goes on children's TV: "They say, 'Come on and read a poem,' and they're all very excited, but 'Keep it short, keep it short, it's for children.' OK. 'Keep it 30 seconds.' OK. Then you do your 30-second poem, and it's followed by someone coming on with a hedgehog for 20 minutes."
2 comments:
I enjoyed the interview as well. His view on children's poetic sensibility' was one I appreciate and know to be true:
"They [children] make disparate links, in the way Aristotle says; they see things that we don't normally see. They make connections all the time, and the way they use words, 'Dad, the candle's crying.' And we say, 'No, the candle isn't crying; the candle isn't crying, it's the molecules agitated by the heat ...' There's no time for daydreaming, no time for letting your mind wander, in a way, to see where it goes ..."
Thanks for posting a link to the article. After I read it I decided to track down some of McGough's poetry.
This one is violent, and punny, but pretty clever. In the end, I decided I liked it.
Yes, 'The Lesson' is good fun. Thanks for the link, Heather. I like Roger McGough. He's not my favourite poet, but he has written some very good poems and he sounds like a good guy.
He also helps to bring quality, accessible poetry to places where it isn't normally heard.
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