Cabaret Mcgonagall

In "Beyond Identity," thirteen of Scotland's best known poets reflect upon the theoretical, practical and political considerations involved in the act of writing. They furnish a unique guide to contemporary Scottish poetry, discussing a range of issues that include nationhood, education, language, religion, landscape, translation and identity. John Burnside, Robert Crawford, Douglas Dunn, Kathleen Jamie, Edwin Morgan, Kenneth White and others, together with such noted experimentalists as Frank Kuppner, Tom Leonard and Richard Price, explore questions about the relationship between social, economic and ecological realities and their poetic transformation. These interviews are set within the altered political context that followed from the re-establishment of a Scottish Parliament in 1999 and the potential of a renewed engagement with wider European culture. Attila Dosa is Senior Lecturer at the Department of English at the University of Miskolc, in northern Hungary.

Intended To Serve The Academic Needs Of The Students Of English Literature, The Companion Is An Ultimate Literary Reference Source, Providing An Up-To-Date, Comprehensive And Authoritative Biographies Of Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Essayists, Journalists And Critics Ranging From Literary Giants Of The Past To Contemporary Writers Like Peter Burnes (1931-2004), Anthony Powell (1905-2000), Patrick O Brian (1914-2000), Iris Murdoch (1919-1999), Grace Nicholas (1950- ) And Douglas Adams (1952-2001). Over The Last Few Decades English Literary Canon Has Become Relatively More Extensive And Diverse. In Recognition Of The Significance Of The New Literatures In English, Special Emphasis Has Been Given On The Writers Of These Literatures. In Addition, The Indian Writers Writing In English Have Been Given A Prominent Place In The Book, Thereby Making It Particularly Useful For The Students Of Indian English Literature. The Companion Is Unique Of Its Kind As It Gives A Broad Outline Of The Story And Not Merely A Brief Account Of The Plot Structure Of A Literary Work So As To Enable The Students To Have A Fairly Good Idea Of The Story. Likewise, Before Getting Down To The Writings Of An Author, The Companion Provides An Invaluable And Authoritative Biographical Note Believing That An Author S Biography Facilitates Proper Understanding Of His/Her Contributions.On Account Of Its Clear And Reliable Plot Summaries And Descriptive Entries Of Major Works And Literary Journals And Authentic Biographical Details, The Companion Is A Work Of Permanent Value. It Is Undoubtedly An Indispensable And Path-Breaking Handy Reference Guide For All Those Interested In Literatures In English Produced In The United Kingdom, The United States, Canada, Australia, Africa, The Caribbean, India And Other Countries.

The cultural value of poetry is critically examined in this book, from anthologies and academia to film and the internet. Attention is also given to the role of political ideologies and local, national and ethnic identities in the formation of poetic values.With chapters by distinguished critics from both sides of the Atlantic, the book ranges widely over contemporary poetry in America and the British Isles and explores transatlantic connections. Informed by current theoretical debates around ideas of value, the chapters focus these through clear discussion of texts in various media, including the work of a wide variety of poets and movements. The book carries forward the debate on the value of contemporary poetry amongst critics, scholars and practitioners while offering rich material for students and teachers of contemporary poetry and culture.Contributors: Jonathan Allison, Vicki Bertram, Paul Breslin, Cairns Craig, Robert Crawford, Lilias Fraser, Alan Golding, Romana Huk, Marjorie Perloff, Andrew Michael Roberts.Features * Focuses on the relationship between poetry and cultural practices* Informed by current theoretical debates about value* Wide range of British and American poetry discussed by leading critics from both sides of the Atlantic

In almost a century since the First World War ended, Scotland has been transformed in many rich ways. Its literature has been an essential part of that transformation. The third volume of the History, explores the vibrancy of modern Scottish literature in all its forms and languages. Giving full credit to writing in Gaelic and by the Scottish diaspora, it brings together the best contemporary critical insights from three continents. It provides an accessible and refreshing picture of both the varieties of Scottish literatures and the kaleidoscopic versions of Scotland that mark literary developments since 1918.

A critical history of avant-garde performance and the problematic relationship of text to performance

Kafka said we should read books which bite and sting: 'If the book we are reading does not wake us up with a blow to the head, what's the point in reading? A book must be the axe which smashes the frozen sea within us.' Brian Hinton applied this to Neil Astley's anthology Poetry with an Edge, which 'crystallises what he has already achieved with Bloodaxe, well designed and committed books, though never comfortable to read. They answer Kafka's definition of what real literature should be.' New Blood is the sequel to Poetry with an Edge, which marked Bloodaxe's first decade of poetry publishing. This completely new anthology brings together poets who have published their first collections during the past ten years. New Blood shows that Bloodaxe isn't going rusty with age, for here are some of the sharpest new talents in poetry - with poems which bite and sting as well as disturb and delight the reader. This book of new poetry from Bloodaxe 'must be the axe which smashes the frozen sea within us'.

Critics hailed the first edition of The Literature of Scotland as one of the most comprehensive and fascinatingly readable accounts of Scottish literature in all three of the country's languages - Gaelic, Scots and English. In this extensively revised and expanded new edition, Roderick Watson traces the lives and works of Scottish writers in a beautiful and rugged country that has been divided by political and religious conflict but united, too, by a democratic and egalitarian ideal of nationhood. The Literature of Scotland: The Twentieth Century provides a comprehensive account of the richest ever period in Scottish literary history. From The House with the Green Shutters to Trainspotting and far beyond, this companion volume to The Literature of Scotland: The Middle Ages to the Nineteenth Century gives a critical and historical context to the upsurge of writing in the languages of Scotland. Roderick Watson covers a wide range of modern and contemporary Scottish authors including: MacDiarmid, MacLean, Grassic Gibbon, Gunn, Robert Garioch, Iain Crichton Smith, Alasdair Gray, Edwin Morgan, James Kelman, Irvine Welsh, Alan Warner, A. L. Kennedy, Liz Lochhead, John Burnside, Jackie Kay, Kathleen Jamie and many, many more! Also featuring an extended list of Further Reading and a helpful chronological timeline, this is an indispensable introduction to the great variety of Scottish writing which has emerged since the start of the twentieth century.