Contemporary poets update

Some of the following belong to a similar generation as Heaney and that lot, but you may not have heard of them. All of them are very well known in the poetry world (but rightly so, which is why I'll use them instead of real unknowns). John Burnside Pattiann Rogers Jacob Polley Robin Robertson Paul Farley Michael Laskey Denise Levertov Stephen Dunn Michael Ondaatje WN Herbert Daljit Nagra Michael Schmidt Andy Brown Tony Harrison Derek Mahon James Fenton Louise Gluck Pascale Petit Les Murray

The 'cutting edge' are likely the lot currently struggling against the forces of apathy to have anyone pay attention to them. They're accessible *and* hip for about five minutes before they're part of the establishment. But check out Clare Pollard. I think she may be younger than me.

Don't think so, Jack; she'll be either 29 or 28. You're probably going by the Bloodaxe anth. -- was it New Blood or New Poetry? Must have been New Blood. Have to say I thought her poems in there were a bit meh, but I dare say she's got a lot better -- she was pretty young, after all.

Yeah, Clare Pollard's definitely a bit older than you, Jack. I think she's good, though. I think the cutting edge is Roddy Lumsden and all his mates.

'I think the cutting edge is Roddy Lumsden and all his mates.' Haha, it can very much seem so can't it? Roddy really annoys me for some reason. I think it's some sort of innate reaction against his name. He gets about on the internet a lot, though, which is interesting. He's a member of several poetry sites/forums I visit a lot. Actually he just gets about a lot in general.

Yeah, I haven't really got against the Lumsden crowd. It's just all a bit too hip to interest me.

I just like it when someone expresses themselves and feels relief once they have done it. It's not so easy and can be exaggerated. You see someones insides on a rare occasion. like their journey through certain times. sounds silly in a way what i'm saying but I don't think so.. maybe i'm wrong.. i dunno.

I don't see the Lumsden crowd as particularly hip. Some good poets but not hip. I can't think of any poets - except Ross Sutherland and David Berman maybe - who I think of as hip in the same way I think of some bands as hip. It's not hard to be hip-compared-to-the-rest-of-the-poetry-scene. Actually, now I think about it. Suzanne Andrade is hip. Saw her again the other night. So good. Is she Lumsden crew? The word hip has started to lose its meaning. I've used it too many times in this post. What does it mean? Is it a compliment or an insult? Agh.

Not necessarily a compliment or an insult.

Perhaps we need a 'hip' replacement.