Centre and Periphery in Modern British Poetry

Book excerpt: In Centre and Periphery in Modern British Poetry, Andrew Duncan raises the provocative question of just how accurate—and useful—the concept of a British literary culture is for a nation that stretches over 600 miles and includes four distinct national cultures. He identifies distinct regional poetic traditions in Scotland, Wales, and the north of England, examining writers such as Glyn Jones, Joseph Macleod, and Colin Simms and coming to the startling conclusion that the finest British poets of recent decades have lived not at the heart of "British" literary society, but in the outlands of the British Isles.