Philip Wright is a local writer and poet. He writes about the place that he knows and where he lives, namely the Valley of the Nene and the Greenway.
His recent epic poem spans the valley of the Nene from Northampton to Thrapston. In temporal terms, it travels from the Bronze Age to the present, covering the Romans, the Victorian railwaymen and the recent past.
It describes the changing seasons, and tells stories about each using the local dialect in many places like “kent” and “ums” meaning “can’t” and “homes”.
At the band club at the end, he bemoans the sullying of the river with effluent from all the new homes, which brings it up to the present time.
It is illustrated by local artist, Maie R. King, with a number of other local contributors.
There are references also to other local poets like Philip Larkin and John Clare and the end piece says that it emulates poets like T S Eliot and FG Lorea.
In recent years, epic poems have not been fashionable. However, Homer’s “The Odyssey” is currently a blockbuster in the cinemas. The movie, directed by Oscar-winning director Sir Christopher Nolan, is receiving rave reviews.
So maybe the tide has turned.
