THE CAPTAIN'S TOWER
When I was at the Bristol University Bob Dylan Conference on, yes, May 24th, I was handed, by two of its three editors, a copy of a smart smallish paperback called The Captain's Tower: Seventy Poets Celebrate Bob Dylan at Seventy. The title misleads, since a number of poems were written by people who died long before they could celebrate any such thing, but it's an interesting collection. My favourite bit on first glance is something in the short paragraph about one of the contributing poets (and co-editors), presumably written about himself, at the back of the book. It goes like this:
"Damian Furniss first heard Bob Dylan on an Open University radio documentary about the civil rights movement when he was thirteen, tuning in from under the bedclothes when he should have been listening to John Peel."
posted by Michael Gray | 3:27 pm
5 Comments:
Sounds really interesting, thanks for the info. Really like the cover, looks good. Will check it out.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the mention, not least because you singled out my contributor's note!
More about the book on our blog http://thecaptainstowerdylanbook.blogspot.com/
It includes the text of my recent talk at the Hay festival and details of various upcoming events including our launch on June 13th at the Troubadour in London - Dylan's first UK appearance in 1962 - and our one hour show at Latitude Festival, both of which will incorporate music as well as poems from the book.
Of the contributors, only Ginsberg is dead - McClure and Ferlinghetti very much alive, as are the all the others except Linda Chase who sadly died just before publication.Not all of the poems were written for the book, but the majority were, though touching on all aspects of Dylan's life and work.
Book available via usual channels and from here: http://www.serenbooks.com/book/the-captains-tower-poems-for-bob-dylan-at-70/9781854115607
Can't quite imagine how dead poets can be seen to be celebrating Dylan, but the idea's intriguing. Kind of refreshing in a way to have Ronnie Wood doing the introduction. (Thank God it's not Bono.)
Thanks. Ronnie doesn't have a lot to say, though (and why is it Ronnie rather than just Ron, by the way?).
Ronnie Wood because that's what he prefers to be known as. It's the usual London more familiar form of Ronald - Ronnie Scott, Ronnie O'Sullivan etc.
As to whether he has much to say, the foreword is online so readers can decide for themselves:
http://thecaptainstowerdylanbook.blogspot.com/2011/05/captains-tower-that-ronnie-wood.html
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