The new Lake Poets - William Scammell

William Scammell's wide-ranging anthology of contemporary Cumbrian poets starts with Norman Nicholson (1914-87). The other writers in the book share his commitment to poetry and loyalty to a place which has shown itself friendly to the meditative, individual voice. David Wright and Geoffrey Holloway are the older, more established Cumbrian writers. The middle generation includes the witty Christopher Pilling, the wry Meg Peacocke and the richly humanist Neil Curry as well as William Scammell himself. Patricia Pogson's poetry shows an emotional tact, while David Scott, one of a long line of country poet-priests, is a master of quiet understatement. Elizabeth Delmore and David Lindley write a lucid, traditional poetry, responding very directly to people and places. Mick North celebrates rural lives of hard toil in language of similar toughness, while David Morley is a maverick scientist-poet. The younger poets are Annie Foster, Maggie Hannan, Charles McDonald, Peter Rafferty and Ben Scammell.