Stephen Fry's comments on free verse, UK Observer Newspaper article link Options

[Guest_Toumai_*]

Well known writer, actor, media personality and intellectual Stephen Fry has a new book out about poety.

This link is to an article in the Observer Sunday newspaper last weekend where he says what he thinks about free verse.

WARNING: Mr Fry does not mince his words: some of his language is a little coarse (however, if a highly respectable and popular Sunday broadsheet can carry it nationally I assume MM can)

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/sto...1593317,00.html

I'd be very interested in hearing what everyone thinks of his comments.

My own first response is - if free verse is emotional self-gratification, then form is merely the intellectual counterpart of the same thing.

Growling  :dragon:

Fran

[Guest_Nina_*]

Hi Fran, James

James, a brilliant response to his letter and an excellent crit of is very poor poem.

love the anal-ysis

>J>It isn't "w##k" at all.  A w##k can be very satisfying. This isn't, I'm afraid. Also, a minute and a half does seem an extraordinary-long time to compose this.
ROFL! a brill comment

I hope you do send it in to the Observer.

As to Stephen Fry's comments.  I agree why bother judging free form when you hate it.  How convenient that he keeps his own poetry private so we can't judge whether his poems are "energetic and driven" or not.  Certainly you can tell nothing from the one published below - it says nothing and is totally flat.

Perhaps we should direct him to some of the free-verse poetry on here and he can see just how powerful the writing can be, released from the constraints of form and meter.

Form poetry at its best can be excellent but a lot (like Fry's own) is not.

Still he achieved what he set out to do - get publicity for his new book which I shan't bother to buy and massage his own very big ego.

Nina