SoSe 21: PS-Surveying English Literatures: Contemporary Poetry: Post - 1945
Richard Marklew
Comments
This survey course engages with diverse developments in poetry after the Second World War and up to the present day. It begins by focusing on formal and thematic trends in the movements of the ’40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s; looking at both the British Movement poets, as well as the transatlantic connections between the American avant-garde and poets associated with the British Poetry Revival. Later in the course, the discussion will turn to how contemporary poets have dealt with issues such as ecology, place, myth, urban violence, and contemporary capitalism. To this end, we will discuss central figures (Ted Hughes, Thom Gunn, Derek Walcott, Philip Gross) as well as focus on the development of performance poetry in South-East London.
All course material will be made available on Blackboard. However, students are strongly encouraged to explore contemporary poetry on their own. Some helpful anthologies are:
Staying Alive, edited by Neil Astley (Bloodaxe, 2001)
ritish Poetry since 1945, edited by Edward Lucie-Smith (Penguin, 1985)
close13 Class schedule
Regular appointments