Geoffrey Grigson lived and worked through amazing times, culturally and politically, and was a prolific poet, writer, critic, naturalist and editor. At the centre of English intellectual life, he knew the poetry grandees of his days and greatly admired those of the past. When he was only 27, he founded the bi-monthly journal ‘New Verse’, thus becoming hugely influential in the poetry world. He wrote over 500 poems himself, and on March 4, 1968 he recorded a number of them, which we heard exactly 57 years later during an exciting and entertaining evening. He would have been thrilled at the large audience (including a good number of poets) listening to his voice, moved by the accounts of his life given by his daughter Caroline and grandson Joe, and intrigued by the choice of poems selected by others from his extensive output. He would have been delighted that John Greening edited a Selected Poems volume (with one of Grigson’s watercolours on the cover), published by Greenwich Exchange. Blake Morrison, Graham High, John Greening, Caroline Banks, Frances High and I read a few poems spanning his many decades as poet.
I shall write a bit more, and hunt around for a few photographs of the evening. I was too busy manouvering the powerpoint that Caroline had so beautifully put together, so that all the texts could be followed more easily, to remember, or have the time, to snap away.
Wonderful refreshments were provided by Graham and Frances High, and as always, Kim and the Library team were immensely helpful.