've just had a read through the new
PI Newsletter, and would like to begin by thanking Peter Sirr for all his hard work. I've only read
PIR under his editorship but it has been a real pleasure.
The Editorial raises some interesting points. The first being the wealth of talent in Ireland at the moment. What is it about this country? How is possible that we continue to turn out such a huge amount of top class writers/poets? The Editorial also asks more important questions about funding, or the lack of, for poets. As a young poet I confess to knowing little about funding or how it works. I don't consider myself accomplished enough to make that step yet, but it isn't something I'm looking forward to.
I would like to talk a little about Peter Sirr's article in particular. At the moment I'm reading Patrick Kavanagh's
Selected Poems, and the Introduction alludes to some of the points Peter makes in his article...specifically the sense of 'Irishness' or 'Irish poetry' and the effect it can have on the 'poetry of Ireland.'
For me, poetry is international. And the influences on my own poetry and writing are far ranging. Yes, it's important to read poetry from Ireland, to read the journals and little magazines, but it's equally important to read poetry on an international level (I think anyways).