{"product_id":"v-9780906427972","title":"v.","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Star\u003c\/em\u003e: 'A plan to televise a poem packed with obscenities caused outrage last night. ITV chiefs intend to screen a reading of Tony Harrison's verse \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ev.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e which is full of four-letter words.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/em\u003e: 'A torrent of four-letter filth… the most explicitly sexual language yet beamed into the nation's living rooms… the crudest, most offensive word is used 17 times.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGerald Howarth, MP: 'It is full of expletives and I can't see that it serves any artistic purpose whatsoever.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMary Whitehouse: 'This work of singular nastiness.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHarold Pinter: 'The criticism against the poem has been offensive, juvenile and, of course, philistine. It should certainly be broadcast.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTony Harrison's \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ev.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e was written during the Miners' Strike of 1984-85 when he visited his parents' grave in a Leeds cemetery and found it vandalised by obscene graffiti. In the book-length poem, he confronts the foul-mouthed skinhead thug responsible, who becomes a foil for his own anger and alienation. The political and media reaction to \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ev.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e would make a book in itself. This is that book. As well as Tony Harrison's poem and Graham Sykes's photographs, this new edition of \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ev.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e includes press articles, letters, reviews, a defence of the poem and film by director Richard Eyre, and a transcript of the phone calls logged by Channel Four on the night of the broadcast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'If I had the slightest influence over educational policy in this country, I'd see that \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ev.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e was a set text in every school in the country, but of course if we lived in that sort of country, the poem wouldn't have needed to be written' – Richard Eyre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChannel Four’s film of \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ev.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e won the Royal Television Society’s Best Original Programme Award.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ebook with audio edition uses a recording of Tony Harrison reading \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ev.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e made by Whistledown Productions and first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 18 February 2013. The feature \u003cem\u003ev. by Tony Harrison\u003c\/em\u003e was rebroadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 6 November 2025.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTony Harrison\u003c\/strong\u003e (1937-2025) was Britain's leading film and theatre poet. He published eight titles with Bloodaxe from 1981 to 1995, including \u003cem\u003eThe Gaze of the Gorgon\u003c\/em\u003e (1992), winner of the Whitbread Poetry Award, and his book-length poem \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003ev. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e(1985\/1989).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis films using verse narrative include \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ev.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e, broadcast by Channel 4 television in 1987 in a film directed by Richard Eyre which won a Royal Television Society Award. The controversy around the broadcast led to \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ev\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e. becoming his best-known work.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tony Harrison","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48280129700091,"sku":"9780906427972","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/9780906427972.jpg?v=1772483395","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/v-9780906427972","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}