Overview
John Birtwhistle has said that 'one writes each poem just to learn how to write it,' and insists that he 'doesn't care a dried pea for Artistic Development or Finding One's Own Voice.' The result, of course, is that a strongly recognisable voice comes through. For all their variety of forms and ideas, his poems are consistent in their visual precision, their scrupulous phrasing, and their formal clarity. These qualities are brought to everything he touches, whether it is a passing moment of childhood, a natural detail, a wryly stoic observation, or perennial emotions in the face of events from before birth (first foetal movements) to after burial (removal to an ossuary). Many scores of individuals are named or make their appearance in some way. If one poem is satiric, the next is unashamedly lyrical. Several reflect on the adequacy of art, and a feature is the stream of very short pieces by way of illustration or riposte, like the border of the Bayeux Tapestry. Wit and feeling are so interwoven in Birtwhistle's technique that when it comes to the register of loss and death, he is able to find what an otherwise hostile critic admitted 'can be a kind of bridled eloquence.' Word frequency analysis shows a high incidence of time, thought, light, morning, child, apple tree, painting, and fossil.Reviews
'a passionate curator of language' —Julie Crane, Poetry Durham 26Author Biography
John Birtwhistle was born in 1946. His poetry has been recognized by an Arts Council creative writing fellowship and a writing fellowship at the University of Southampton. He has had three concert libretti set and performed. From 1980, he was a Lecturer in English at the University of York before deciding to concentrate on bringing up his son and daughter. For five years he has contributed regular articles on poetry to the British Medical Journal's specialist quarterly BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. He lives in Sheffield with his wife.
