Read the foreign and the dead : Lavinia Greenlaw : Harriet the Blog : The Poetry Foundation

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Lavinia Greenlaw

Read the foreign and the dead

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I grew up in a house full of books and made my way through the shelves.
There wasn’t much else to do.
I didn’t have a clue who anyone was, so I read poems not poets.
Those who formed me were from mythical places: Eastern Europe (lurking behind the Iron Curtain) and America (lurking behind the album cover and cinema screen).
They took me outside and so I got to see in.

09.30.08 PERMALINK | COMMENTS (3)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 5:38 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

3 Comments for “Read the foreign and the dead”

Lavinia Greenlaw, I wish you would write more. Your posts make me feel less alone. — Ange
Posted By: Ange Mlinko on September 30, 2008 at 8:13 am
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“Read poems, not poets” is as a good a prescription. I wonder what would become of the current leading lights if we all applied that standard.
Posted By: Joseph Hutchison on September 30, 2008 at 8:19 am
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I doubt they would dim, Joseph.
Posted By: Lbehrendt on September 30, 2008 at 6:33 pm
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