Craig Raine

Poems are the Duracell batteries of language, says Simon Armitage

It is their compact shape which can transmit such power, says the Poet Laureate, who inveighs against self-indulgent obscurity

Simon Armitage. Credit: Getty Images
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  • A Vertical Art: Oxford Lectures

    Simon Armitage

    Faber, pp. 376, £25

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Daniel Thorpe

Turkey’s döner kebab spat with Germany is turning nasty

Germany and Turkey have had a fair share of differences and tensions over the years. But their latest row – over kebabs – is in danger of turning nasty. Last April, German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier decided to bring along a 60-kilogram döner kebab on his state visit to Turkey. It did not go down well.

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