John Self @john-self.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Also I just realised, 30 or so years after first reading it, that the V. in Tony Harrison’s title, which in the poem is used as an oppositional ‘versus’, is a pun on ‘verses’. 🤦♂️ 1250
John Self @john-self.bsky.social · 30/09/2026You can read v. (I forgot the title is lower case) here in the LRB, where it was first published in 1985: "These Vs are all the versuses of life from LEEDS v. DERBY, Black/White and (as I’ve known to my cost) man v. wife, Communist v. Fascist, Left v. Right..."lrb.co.ukTony Harrison · Poem: ‘V.’ 1153
Chris Routledge @chrisroutledge.bsky.social · 30/09/2026When I taught the English module at the University of Liverpool's access course, v was one of the best things we studied. The students were all kinds of different, and while the language was divisive, the poem always won them over. It's one of my favourite things (Harrison in general in fact) 000
