Allen Fisher's Place
Finally out! The complete one-volume edition of Allen Fisher’s first long poem Place arrived in the mail from Reality Street Editions (http://freespace.virgin.net/reality.street/). Witnessing the elaboration of Place during the seventies in London was a founding experience for my own poetics. Thirty years later the poem still stands as a core marker of the New British poetry. A psychotopography of South London as only Blake had managed to draw in another century.
I will be on the road for the next 10 days, first New York, for the PEN Awards ceremonies tonight, then Luxembourg for a week on family biz. Place being too heavy a book (418 pages)for nomadic light travel, I will take along the gorgeous new edition of Ronald Johnson’s Radi Os, just out from Flood Editions. Not sure if I will be able to blog on the road — but will try.
Congratulations on the Pen award, Pierre.
-jh
Congratulations on the PEN award. I would hbave but there, but I have a cut in my foot which immobilized me in the house the last few days.
I remember Allen Fisher also from the 1970’s when I also lived in England. A section of the poem The Bridge, which I was writing at the time- a part describing the catwalks of a boat- was inspired by Allen’s work.