Tony Harrison's 'V'

Tony Harrison's 'V', one of the most memorable works of public poetry of the past few years , is about the multiple meaning of that letter: for example, victory, versus, verses. Starting out from a mediation in a leeds graveyard where the poet´s parents tombstone has been defaced with graffiti, 'V' rises to a panoramic view of the divisions , antagonisms, and aspirations within British society and the poet´s own self . Richard Eyre, who will succeed Sir Peter Hall as Artistic Director of the National Theatre in June 1988, has made a vivid poem-film 'V', combining newsreel footage of the miner´s strike and of football hooliganism, with Tony Harrison´s reading of his own poem to Yorkshire audience. Tony Harrison is one of the most distinguished of contemporary British poets.