Hastings adds poetry to its cultural cornucopia

Hastings’ cultural reputation needs to be expanded to acknowledge its prominence as a town of poetry. A new anthology, to be launched during the rapidly approaching Hastings Book Festival, makes the case, as Ben Sumner eloquently argues.

Every town has its poets. Hastings, judging by this comprehensive new anthology, has had more than its fair share. Each of the 71 poets gathered here has a link to the town, whether physical, spiritual, residential, artistic or some combination – and all, to some extent, have clearly been inspired by it. Reading Poet Town, or even just dipping into it, is to be reminded that, as Salena Godden highlights in her foreword, Hastings is a singular place, a haven of “magical inspiration”, with the power to continually enlighten, uplift and stimulate.

As it has been for generations. A particular pleasure of Poet Town is its inclusion of 40 “classic” poems, whose authors get their own, excellent overview. It’s an impressive list of luminaries that includes Lord and Lady Byron, Kipling, Keats, Lewis Carroll, Christina Rossetti – another reminder that this town has been inspiring writers, artists, poets and dreamers for centuries.

One of the achievements of Poet Town is to bring together all of these voices, to celebrate Hastings with an extensive and diverse anthology that is by turns thought-provoking, provocative and playful – much like the town itself. As you would expect, Hastings and its surroundings feature strongly: the Battle, Bottle Alley, the pier, shingle, gulls and Grey Owl all make an appearance, as does, naturally, the sea. Edward Lear even gives us four “local limericks”.

But the less tangible spirit of the town is there too: its particular “electric and eclectic” state of mind, as Godden highlights. Its characters, its ghosts, its bawdy banter and backchat, a healthy disdain for the pretentious, and a celebration of the ordinary.

Poetry transcends time and place, however – that’s one of its strengths. So Poet Town is about Hastings and its environs, of course, but it’s also about life, death, love, pain, beauty, nature – all those things that make poetry so important. Oh, and kangaroos. A variety of forms is represented too, a heady mix of lyrical sonnets, free verse, performance poems and more introspective verses that harbour their messages and meanings, revealing them only after multiple readings.

My one quibble is that I’d have preferred the poems, past and present, to be interspersed, to give more of a sense of connection and continuity. Putting the classic poems in the second half creates a sense of separation, whereas poetry is wholly inclusive – another of its abiding strengths. But it’s a minor quibble.

Overall, Poet Town is a rich and multifaceted collection of “Hastings’ treasures” (Bessie Rayner Parks): moving, life-affirming; an exploration of, as Edmund Waller puts it, “The soul’s dark cottage, battered and decayed”, and that “greenest spot on memory’s waste” (Thomas Hood). It’s all here: stark simplicity (“I’ll paint a still life//A still life//There is still life in me yet” – Oli Spleen), striking imagery (“the drench of fallen stars” – Paul A Green), poignant humour (“My mother was always afraid of losing her marbles.//I’d imagine a black suede drawstring pouch on a red tiled floor” – Judith Shaw), the more experimental (“A breath of wind emerges from the horizon, a pillar of light” – Richard Makin); the brittle emotion of Richard Newham-Sullivan (the anthology’s editor) – “Only you’ve died.//And Death is petite, with bird-like bones//dressed in red and smiling, yes,//a quite skullish little grin.”; the obsessive passions of Dante Rossetti – “To-night Love claims his full control,//And with desire and with regret//My soul this hour has drawn your soul//A little nearer yet.”

And George MacDonald, demonstrating the impact of brevity with his two-line, two-word poem “The Shortest and Sweetest of Songs”:

Come​
Home.

It’s an exhortation that resonates throughout this long overdue paean to Hastings: come back, return, join us, be inspired, be moved. Poet Town captures not only the spirit of Hastings but also the soul of poetry, a refuge we all can and should hole up in, especially in these present times.

Every town has its poets, yes, but few can boast a collection of poets, and poems, as much-needed and all-encompassing as this one.

Poet Town: The Poetry of Hastings & Thereabouts is published by Moth Light Press on 10 September, RRP £12.99. A photo edition, with portraits of the contributors by Maxine Silver, is also available, at £14.99.

A launch event will be held for Poet Town, as part of Hastings Book Festival, at the Observer Building (53 Cambridge Road, Hastings TN34 1DT) at 7pm on 18 September, when contributors will be reading from their works. The book will be on sale in Bookbusters, Waterstones and the De La Warr Pavilion, and online through Amazon.

Hastings Book Festival runs from 12 to 21 September – more details here.

Also in: Poetry