Poems in Progress - Drafts From Master Poets

Ask two poets what their first drafts look like, and you'll likely get wildly different answers. From typed pages with delicate annotation to hasty scribbles in a dog-eared notebook, drafts often tell us so much more about poems - and their poets - than the published versions ever could.0Manuscripts range from John Keats' drafts in his own hand, to poems written on toilet paper by Sylvia Pankhurst while confined in Holloway Prison, to early versions typed by Sylvia Plath on the reverse of Ted Hughes' own discarded work. Themed chapters allow for fascinating new comparisons between diverse objects - William Blake's 'London' (1794) sits alongside Andrew Salkey's 'Jamaica' (1973) in discussions of place - revealing how each manuscript has shaped our understanding and practice of poetry today.0Experts from the British Library explain the process and provenance behind poems from the UK and Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East, highlighting the secrets that published poems often conceal. Practicing poets also reveal their own drafts, with new reflections on writing --

About the author

Laura Walker is Lead Curator of Modern Archives and Manuscripts 1850-1950 at the British Library.

Alexandra Ault is Lead Curator of Modern Archives and Manuscripts 1601-1850.

Summary

Diverse themes including love, inequality, and the natural world bring together some of the most culturally significant and emotionally affecting poems in the British Library’s collections and beyond. Practicing poets also reveal their own drafts, with new reflections on writing.

Product details

• Authors: Alexandra Walker Ault
• Assisted by: Alexandra Ault (Editor), Laura Walker (Editor)
• Publisher: British Library
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.09.2022
• EAN: 9780712354660
• ISBN: 978-0-7123-5466-0
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama > Poetry; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; LITERARY CRITICISM / Poetry, POETRY / Anthologies (multiple authors), Literary studies: poetry & poets, Poetry anthologies (various poets), Literary studies: poetry and poets