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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Jess Denham

Jeremy Corbyn: Poems for Corbyn e-book includes poem that repeats 'No Blair' 21 times

Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn (BBC)

Twenty poets have clubbed together to write poems for Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn.

The resulting e-book collection, Poets for Corbyn, has been downloaded more than 5,000 times in its first week and was compiled as a "gesture of support" for his campaign.

Perhaps the most memorable poem is "For the Love of God" by Nick Telfer, who simply wrote "No Blair" 21 times in a black and white grid.

Nicholas Murray, Michael Rosem and Pascale Petit are among the other poets involved in the project, published by online magazine Berfrois and produced by its editor Russell Bennetts.

Labour leadership: The Contenders

"My aim with the book was to signal support for Corbyn in the leadership race. I think we managed that. Whether it increased the number of votes for him is another matter," Bennetts told The Bookseller.

"The book has inspired a wide range of reactions. Some have dismissed it as Corbyn worship, but I doubt these critics have read the book properly. Others have understood it as a decent, stand-alone book of poems beyond the Corbyn aspect."

Bennetts approached left-leaning poets for submissions and cites "Poem of Philosophical and Parental Conundrums Written in an Election Year" by Erin Belieu as his favourite for its "mix of the political and the personal".

Readers are offered a choice of covers for the collection, which includes Corbyn's famous beard and bike.

Whether or not he has read the book remains unknown, but we reckon he'll enjoy it.

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