Curtain Call ebook | Hugo Williams | 9780571264803

The art of portraiture in poetry is traceable from the Latin poets and Chaucer via Goldsmith, Wordsworth and Browning, to the modern era of Rimbaud, Cavafy, Auden, Lowell and Hofmann. Poetry is an art form which encourages introspection, so it is a welcome break to find these poets looking outward, fondly or otherwise, in homage or in satire, at their fellow performers on the human stage. Here, you may find yourself rubbing shoulders with the likes of Elvis Presley, Oscar Wilde, and the Duke of Buckingham, or buttonholed by intriguing gatecrashers to the virtual party. Who is Butch Weldy, for instance? And what did become of Waring?

Hugo Williams was born in 1942 and grew up in Sussex. He worked on the London Magazine from 1961 to 1970, since when he has earned his living as a journalist and travel writer. Billy’s Rain won the T. S. Eliot Prize in 1999. His Collected Poems was published by Faber in 2002 and his last collection, Dear Room, was published in 2006. He writes a freelance column for the TLS and lives in London.Hugo Williams was born in 1942 and grew up in Sussex. He worked on the London Magazine from 1961 to 1970, since when he has earned his living as a journalist and travel writer. Billy’s Rain won the T. S. Eliot Prize in 1999. His Collected Poems was published by Faber in 2002 and his last collection, Dear Room, was published in 2006. He writes a freelance column for the TLS and lives in London.