Zimbabwe Speaks The written word, in this electronic age, is inviolable. No government can erase it once it has been shared, no eye can ignore it once it has been glimpsed. Taken for granted in most nations, where freedom and the sanctity of life are readily assumed, poetry is also flourishing in nations like Zimbabwe, which for 20 years has been living under a strange silence. Edited by Tinashe Mushakavanhu and David Nettleingham, State of the Nation gives voice to the poets of contemporary Zimbabwe, a nation never far from the headlines, yet mysterious in its reticence to reveal the feelings, fears and furies of its people. This is not only a selection of the finest poetry being written in a nation held silent for twenty years; it is also a sobering and startling reminder that poetry remains a force of defiance, justice and unfettered self expression. A valuable and worthy book for those with an interest in world literature. For more information click here. ------------------------------------- The Conversation Continues Conversation Poetry Quarterly has evolved into the new bi-annual publication entitled, simply, 'Conversation'. Back issues are still available from the website, with editions in Italian, Farsi and Turkish. Visit the website here and discover poetry's potential to deal with universal themes, and how writers from across the globe are taking part in the dialogue. ------------------------------------- Anatomy of a Poet The finest poets throughout the ages have carefully charted the strange terrain between the world of the uniquely personal, and the realm of the universal. In his debut collection, Luigi Marchini (chair of Canterbury's Save As Writers Group) delves with the grace of a deep sea diver into the shadows of human life to reveal our secret truths. The poems that make up The Anatomist have been crafted with a skilful and uninvasive employment of modern techniques. Marchini remains a poet with a unique voice, who speaks with absolute authenticity even when presenting a fictitious incident; it is this ability to locate and examine the fundamental emotional complex at the heart of twenty-first century existence that marks him as a true artist. For more information click here.	Meet the Poets Canterbury Poets hosts a wealth of exciting new poetry from the City's brightest talents. Explore a selection of material from several local poets, and browse their biographies by clicking here. ------------------------------------- A Marriage of Poetic Souls "In the end, Hughes was able to produce a coherent text of 88 poems because he was able to step outside of himself and adopt a role as character within the text itself." Aileen Christodolou examines Ted Hughes' Birthday Letters. Click  here to read the essay. ------------------------------------- Big Game by Jo Field When the elephants drift in at dusk like ghosts of ocean liners, jostle their pale bulk gently round the waterhole, you want them to stay there floodlit for ever, can do nothing but grab a breath and hold on as if releasing it might blow them away. Somewhere around midnight you blunder through the tents, gnawed by anxiety in case your torchlight, piercing the nylon walls, should sear somebody else’s dream. Noisier than soft-foot elephants, you’re clumsier by far; full of the wonder of them. Your breath snags on a memory: the rumour of another watcher who ignored the warnings, lost himself in his elephant-trance and was consumed by lions. ------------------------------------- Nature Versus Nurture What makes you You? Does the self exist before experience, or is it formed by it? A dialogue between poets David Nettleingham and Christopher Hobday, AdageAdagio is an expression of the Conversation Poetry artistic credo. The best manifesto is art itself, and as a window into Dialectic Poetry, drafts one to ten of this study of nature versus nurture ride on a tide of philosophical endeavour. Naturally, the poems take inspiration from the innermost sanctums of the mind and heart, and the outer cataclysms of war and murder. Presenting each human as a being born in the furnace of experience, AdageAdagio focuses on two main concepts: the forces of environment which work to shape the self; and the invincible and innate elements of the self that exist before birth. For more information click here. -------------------------------------	Getting Involved Canterbury Poets welcomes any involvement from local poets. You can get involved in a number of ways: Submit some poems  - get on board with the site as one of our featured poets. We would also need an image of you, and a brief biography. Columns - columns and articles are welcome, covering any aspect of the local poetry scene, your experiences with poetry, or the craft itself. Again, we would need an image and biography (if not already supplied). All copyright remains with the poets who are free to reproduce their work wherever they like. --------------------------------- Making Masks '...“Write what you know” encourages us not to be creative at all, but to instead talk about our lives. That’s great, if you happen to be a secret agent, an astronaut or an amateur detective...' To have a go at the first online Canterbury Poets workshop, click here.