This book examines intersections of poetry and performance during the British Poetry Revival. Its investigations are centered on four specific performance events: The First International Poetry Incarnation at the Royal Albert Hall in 1965; Denise Riley’s first public reading at the Cambridge Poetry Festival in 1977; Eric Mottram’s
Pollock Record
; and Allen Fisher’s
Blood Bone Brain
. Drawing upon a range of archival resources, recordings, and interviews, Juha Virtanen offers engaging and detailed “archaeological” accounts and analyses of these largely unexamined events as well as the potential dialogues between them. The appendices of the book also feature previously unpublished interviews with both Fisher and Riley.
This book is essential reading for poetry and performance enthusiasts, particularly those interested in innovative British Poetry.