I promised some information on poetry to do with the River Severn – so here it is: this is just my personal list, so others may have other suggestions. I have also added some other books that might be relevant, plus some general info.
Philip Gross ‘The Water Table’ pub Bloodaxe (this is the local poet that I am currently working with)
Alice Oswald ‘A Sleepwalk on the Severn’ pub Faber & Faber
Gillian Clarke ‘A Recipe for Water’ pub Carcanet – covers rivers Wye, Usk and Severn (Gillian Clarke is the national poet for Wales)
You might also want to consider:
- poetry/writings by John Clare, a great walker and bird watcher. I have his notebooks with lots of references to birds and the landscape, but not in our local area.
- poetry/writing by Edward Thomas. Ivor Gurney was a great fan of Edward Thomas. It was this connection that drew me to Ivor Gurney’s work in the first place. ’Edward Thomas. Collected Poems’ by Faber & Faber (Green cover). Like Gurney he is often known as a war poet, but I think he’s far more interesting as an observer of the landscape.
I mentioned the following book, which some of you already have, ‘Ivor Gurney’s Gloucestershire: Exploring Poetry and Place‘ by Eleanor Rawling pub History Press
I also have an anthology of poems and writings, ’Landscapes on the Edge’ pub Fine Leaf 2010 – poems of the Wye Valley and Welsh Borders
Thanks for this. Love Philip Gross’s latest book (not river related). Your ivor gurney walk still lingers in my mind.