Reviews
Lights of Leeds
Barry Tebb is a wild card, a delightfully awkward
old cuss, as anyone who is lucky or unlucky enough to regularly receive his
spirit duplicated, Sixties Press UK published 'Poetry Now' pamphlet, will
already know. The fact that the pamphlets were almost illegible was a source of
hilarity and they helplessly invited satirical comment (they have much improved
now as Barry Tebb has moved on to Xerox). Those pamphlets generally contain a
few poems by Barry himself, one or two by his
girlfriend, a poem by one of his heroes (often Kirkup) and, best of all,
wonderful tirades against the poetry establishments, both main- stream and
avant garde, which are bitter, funny, spot on or as wayward as possible
(depending on whether you agree with him or not) and always entertaining. Barry
Tebb has a particular dislike for the New Gen crowd and their cronies, but he
has been just as rude about everyone else too. Myself and Terrible Work have
been on the receiving end of both his praise and disgust though which makes us
peculiarly suited to giving an objective opinion about him.
My opinion of Tebb has been high from the start. I enjoy his poems immensely,
unlike most of Terrible Work's clientele, and have published him and reviewed
his work positively, but this did not prevent me from earning his ire because
Gordon Wardman wrote a very negative review which we published, even though I
disagreed strongly enough to add a footnote, giving my support to Barry's
poetry, but it often seems to be the very things that get up other reader's
backs that make his poems so appealing to me. I love their extreme nostalgia,
their over-the-top fearlessness, their loose freedom that is used to carry such
emotional opinion, their romantic sex-recall, their obsession and most of all
their continuous slippage that sees verses about his childhood in Leeds, segue
into rants against James Fenton.
Barry Tebb was born and brought up in Leeds; something he is proud of and
reminds us at every opportunity. He was published in Horovitz's 'Children of
Albion' and then disappeared from poetry only to pop up again a few years back
like one of those Japanese soldiers suddenly found on an uninhabited island who
didn't know the war was over. 'Bloody hell', he blinked, 'what has happened to
poetry?'
He had long left Leeds to follow a teaching career down south and on retiring
returned to writing poetry through suddenly remembering his past, in particular
his childhood love, Margaret, his muse, his 'light' of Leeds. It is this muse
which gives so many of his readers problems. Even a strong supporter of his
poetry, Andy Croft, advised him against publishing the verses that recall his
sexual relations with the girl some fifty years ago. His obsession has been
called unhealthy in more than one review and downright perverse in others. What
can I say, I think these people have the problem, not Barry Tebb. It is the
intensity of his feelings for the memory of Margaret which are both the source
and target of his renewed inspiration and his celebration of the energy of love
and emotion is brilliantly executed and should be completely free of the snide
and prudish (and downright stupid in my opinion) attacks it has
received.
'The Lights of Leeds' is an original and stunning little collection and for those
who attack it for its 'romance' or 'emotion' or for its lack of modern cynical
sensiblity all I can say is 'get a life.' Barry Tebb is a stubborn survivor
whose life is full of poetry in every sense.
Treasure it!
Can
we trust them?
LPW is typewritten in different
faces, offset- printed on unnumbered A4 pages of various colours, and stapled
together (with one staple).
The editor, Barry Tebb, scribbles
recommendations above the work of contributors: "A greatly undervalued but
hugely talented poet", he writes next to the name of Brian Hinton. "A poet of
genius", are his barely legible words over another. This is how the poetry
scene used to be. However, the cover of the "Easter Double Issue" of LPW
carries the portrait of an ominously smiling Stalin. It appears to be related
to the editorial, in which Mr Tebb explains that a poet called Brenda Williams
was rejected by an anthologist compiling a book on the theme of "mental
distress". We Have Come Through, edited by Alison Combes, is to be published by
Bloodaxe. Ms Williams appears to have spent time in mental institutions, and
cannot understand why the commissar (Ms Combes) refuses to acknowledge her
suffering. Ms Combes's letter of rejection is printed (without her permission,
probably); her conversation with Ms Williams is related (in Ms Williams's
version); a poem about Ms Combes by Ms Williams is published. It ends: "You,
who left me to anonymity, / Are tarred with literary infamy".
Phew. Did we say the poetry scene
used to be like this? Alison Combes ended her conversation with Ms Williams by
saying, "I don’t want to get into a long debate". Neither do we.
Leeds Poetry Weekly Magazine is
available from 89 Connaught Road, Sutton, Surrey SM1 3PJ. UK
GUEST ARTISTS OF OUR PCMS
BARRY TEBB
Born Leeds 1942. Educated Leeds
Training College 1961 -64. Taught Wyther Park Primary School 1964-67. Lived in
a cottage near Huddersfield with poet Brenda .Williams, writing poetry and
going for long walks. Lived in Leeds. Had 2 children. Didn't have inspiration
for 25 years (1970-1995) then 'block' gone and didn't stop writing since (?).
"The lights of Leeds" published by Redbeck Press in 2001. Poetry in Pef
Productions: Shut up Shop (a hand written version), and The Singing
School,..
In 1966 he edited a pamphlet
anthology Five Quiet Shouters for Poet and Printer. One
'unknown" he included was Angela Carter who was later to become a novelist of
world stature. Said about the earlier work, reviewing his first collection:
"The Quarrel with Ourselves": Mr. Tebb
mixes innocence and experience compellingly (John Carey, Merton Professor of
English Literature at Oxford). Poems by Barry Tebb were included in plenty of
Anthologies as there are the Penguin's 'Children of Albion', United Press anthologies
such as: 'Songs of Spring' & 'National Poetry Anthology 2000',... And also
of course in plenty of magazines like; KRAX, The Bad Poetry Quarterly, The
Yorkshire Evening Post, Blueprint, Dial 174, Iota,... In 2001 editor of
Seven Unquiet Shouters including the work of 7 poets.
Barry Tebb is living care for the brilliant poet Brenda Williams suffering from sever long-term depression. And
was taken in account personal experience more than ever, 'happy' we didn't miss
out the Low NHS standards on our worst thing list of City Poet.
Tebb, himself was very pleased with
us choosing The Singing School for publication.
By the same author published by Poet
& Printer: The Quarrel with ourselves (1966), Three Regional Voices (1968),
Crosscurrents (1970), Five Quiet Shouters (Editor of, 1966). By Sixties Press:
The Bridge over the Aire (1997), Summer with Margaret (1997), Windsong (2001).
Further; In Memory of My Mother (2000, Feather Books), The Lights of Leeds
(2000, Redhpck Press).
Barry Tebb is a wild card, a delightfully awkward
old cuss, as anyone who is lucky or unlucky enough to regularly receive his
spirit duplicated, Sixties Press UK published 'Poetry Now' pamphlet, will
already know. The fact that the pamphlets were almost illegible was a source of
hilarity and they helplessly invited satirical comment (they have much improved
now as Barry Tebb has moved on to Xerox). Those pamphlets generally contain a
few poems by Barry himself, one or two by his
girlfriend, a poem by one of his heroes (often Kirkup) and, best of all,
wonderful tirades against the poetry establishments, both main- stream and
avant garde, which are bitter, funny, spot on or as wayward as possible
(depending on whether you agree with him or not) and always entertaining. Barry
Tebb has a particular dislike for the New Gen crowd and their cronies, but he
has been just as rude about everyone else too. Myself and Terrible Work have
been on the receiving end of both his praise and disgust though which makes us
peculiarly suited to giving an objective opinion about him.
My opinion of Tebb has been high from the start. I enjoy his poems immensely,
unlike most of Terrible Work's clientele, and have published him and reviewed
his work positively, but this did not prevent me from earning his ire because
Gordon Wardman wrote a very negative review which we published, even though I
disagreed strongly enough to add a footnote, giving my support to Barry's
poetry, but it often seems to be the very things that get up other reader's
backs that make his poems so appealing to me. I love their extreme nostalgia,
their over-the-top fearlessness, their loose freedom that is used to carry such
emotional opinion, their romantic sex-recall, their obsession and most of all
their continuous slippage that sees verses about his childhood in Leeds, segue
into rants against James Fenton.
Barry Tebb was born and brought up in Leeds; something he is proud of and
reminds us at every opportunity. He was published in Horovitz's 'Children of
Albion' and then disappeared from poetry only to pop up again a few years back
like one of those Japanese soldiers suddenly found on an uninhabited island who
didn't know the war was over. 'Bloody hell', he blinked, 'what has happened to
poetry?'
He had long left Leeds to follow a teaching career down south and on retiring
returned to writing poetry through suddenly remembering his past, in particular
his childhood love, Margaret, his muse, his 'light' of Leeds. It is this muse
which gives so many of his readers problems. Even a strong supporter of his
poetry, Andy Croft, advised him against publishing the verses that recall his
sexual relations with the girl some fifty years ago. His obsession has been
called unhealthy in more than one review and downright perverse in others. What
can I say, I think these people have the problem, not Barry Tebb. It is the
intensity of his feelings for the memory of Margaret which are both the source
and target of his renewed inspiration and his celebration of the energy of love
and emotion is brilliantly executed and should be completely free of the snide
and prudish (and downright stupid in my opinion) attacks it has
received.
'The Lights of Leeds' is an original and stunning little collection and for those
who attack it for its 'romance' or 'emotion' or for its lack of modern cynical
sensiblity all I can say is 'get a life.' Barry Tebb is a stubborn survivor
whose life is full of poetry in every sense.
Treasure it!
Can
we trust them?
LPW is typewritten in different
faces, offset- printed on unnumbered A4 pages of various colours, and stapled
together (with one staple).
The editor, Barry Tebb, scribbles
recommendations above the work of contributors: "A greatly undervalued but
hugely talented poet", he writes next to the name of Brian Hinton. "A poet of
genius", are his barely legible words over another. This is how the poetry
scene used to be. However, the cover of the "Easter Double Issue" of LPW
carries the portrait of an ominously smiling Stalin. It appears to be related
to the editorial, in which Mr Tebb explains that a poet called Brenda Williams
was rejected by an anthologist compiling a book on the theme of "mental
distress". We Have Come Through, edited by Alison Combes, is to be published by
Bloodaxe. Ms Williams appears to have spent time in mental institutions, and
cannot understand why the commissar (Ms Combes) refuses to acknowledge her
suffering. Ms Combes's letter of rejection is printed (without her permission,
probably); her conversation with Ms Williams is related (in Ms Williams's
version); a poem about Ms Combes by Ms Williams is published. It ends: "You,
who left me to anonymity, / Are tarred with literary infamy".
Phew. Did we say the poetry scene
used to be like this? Alison Combes ended her conversation with Ms Williams by
saying, "I don’t want to get into a long debate". Neither do we.
Leeds Poetry Weekly Magazine is
available from 89 Connaught Road, Sutton, Surrey SM1 3PJ. UK
GUEST ARTISTS OF OUR PCMS
BARRY TEBB
Born Leeds 1942. Educated Leeds
Training College 1961 -64. Taught Wyther Park Primary School 1964-67. Lived in
a cottage near Huddersfield with poet Brenda .Williams, writing poetry and
going for long walks. Lived in Leeds. Had 2 children. Didn't have inspiration
for 25 years (1970-1995) then 'block' gone and didn't stop writing since (?).
"The lights of Leeds" published by Redbeck Press in 2001. Poetry in Pef
Productions: Shut up Shop (a hand written version), and The Singing
School,..
In 1966 he edited a pamphlet
anthology Five Quiet Shouters for Poet and Printer. One
'unknown" he included was Angela Carter who was later to become a novelist of
world stature. Said about the earlier work, reviewing his first collection:
"The Quarrel with Ourselves": Mr. Tebb
mixes innocence and experience compellingly (John Carey, Merton Professor of
English Literature at Oxford). Poems by Barry Tebb were included in plenty of
Anthologies as there are the Penguin's 'Children of Albion', United Press anthologies
such as: 'Songs of Spring' & 'National Poetry Anthology 2000',... And also
of course in plenty of magazines like; KRAX, The Bad Poetry Quarterly, The
Yorkshire Evening Post, Blueprint, Dial 174, Iota,... In 2001 editor of
Seven Unquiet Shouters including the work of 7 poets.
Barry Tebb is living care for the brilliant poet Brenda Williams suffering from sever long-term depression. And
was taken in account personal experience more than ever, 'happy' we didn't miss
out the Low NHS standards on our worst thing list of City Poet.
Tebb, himself was very pleased with
us choosing The Singing School for publication.
By the same author published by Poet
& Printer: The Quarrel with ourselves (1966), Three Regional Voices (1968),
Crosscurrents (1970), Five Quiet Shouters (Editor of, 1966). By Sixties Press:
The Bridge over the Aire (1997), Summer with Margaret (1997), Windsong (2001).
Further; In Memory of My Mother (2000, Feather Books), The Lights of Leeds
(2000, Redhpck Press).