These are the first few poems from a series which is in process. They form the central part of a cycle of poems, Trasimene, based on the lake in Umbria in which Hannibal achieved his second significant victory on Italian soil in the Second Punic War. I visit Lago Trasimene every year and over time I’ve worked on a collection which attempts to link modern Italian lake-life with the historical events which happened there over two thousand years ago. “After Livy” starts with a meditation on Hannibal’s life after he and his army had been defeated by the Romans, something most historians don’t feel the need to discuss at great length. But it moves on to consider the relation between poetry and historical knowledge, in particular issues of individual and collective heroism. Unlike Byron at the beginning of Don Juan, I’m not in search of a hero. I...
After Livy/Mosul Journal
GRAHAM ALLEN WORKS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK, IRELAND. HE HAS PUBLISHED NUMEROUS BOOKS ON LITERARY THEORY AND ROMANTIC LITERATURE, INCLUDING MARY SHELLEY (PALGRAVE, 2008) AND THE READER’S GUIDE TO “FRANKENSTEIN” (CONTINUUM, 2008). HE HAS BEEN PUBLISHING HIS POETRY IN JOURNALS IN IRELAND AND THE UK SINCE 2006 AND IS WORKING ON TWO COLLECTIONS, SOME THINGS I NEVER DID AND TRASIMENE.
STEVE MUMFORD IS A NEW YORK ARTIST AND AUTHOR OF BAGHDAD JOURNAL: AN ARTIST IN OCCUPIED IRAQ (DRAWN & QUARTERLY, 2005). HE FIRST WENT TO BAGHDAD IN 2003 AS A WAR ARTIST, LIVING AND WORKING AMONG THE IRAQIS AS WELL AS EMBEDDED WITH THE US MILITARY. HIS ARTWORK IS REPRESENTED BY POSTMASTERS GALLERY IN NEW YORK. (IMAGES APPEAR COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND POSTMASTERS GALLERY, NY.)
Graham Allen, Steve Mumford; After Livy/Mosul Journal. Cultural Politics 1 March 2009; 5 (1): 63–72. doi: https://doi.org/10.2752/175174309X388473
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