I hate to mention Ted Hughes in a negative fashion twice within two weeks, but I can't help agreeing with a point made by the irascible Auberon Waugh in the November edition of his excellent Literary Review.Referring to a new anthology, By Heart - 101 Poems to Remember, and to Hughes's introduction to that volume, in which he offers advice on how best to memorise poetry, Waugh declares: "Unfortunately our Poet Laureate writes the purist rubbish . . . his basic recommendation is that verse should be remembered by its images. The worst thing in the world, he feels, is to learn it by rote. This is also the cry of modern teachers in most subjects, and explains why nobody learns anything."Warming to his subject, Waugh goes on: "He largely ignores the important truth, that it is the duty of the reader to remember it. Rhyme and scansion are tremendous aids to memorability . . . Poems that neither rhyme nor scan nor make sense are almost impossible for anyone else to memorise, even by rote. One may doubt that these poems are worth remembering."Of course Waugh has a personal agenda here - the monthly poetry competition in the Literary Review is open only to poems that both rhyme and scan, which is ludicrously limiting, though I'm sure many people would agree with his general point.And as if to prove it, he publishes the winning poem in this year's Literary Review Grand Poetry Prize. It's a sonnet written by Alison Prince and it's called Figs and Waugh thinks it "hauntingly erotic". Downright sexy, I'd say, but I'm afraid you'll have to buy the Literary Review if you want to savour it for yourself. By the way, it's netted Ms Prince a cool £5,000, which isn't buttons, whatever about figs.Last week I mentioned the offers being made by publishers for ht autobiographies of Van Morrison and Elton John, but such oldies should look to their laurels (or agents) - HarperCollins in the US have just forked out $2 million for the memoirs of 23-year-old Alaskan-born, California based popster Jewel, who up to a few months ago was a complete unknown, and may yet be again, if a good deal richer.As if echoing Waugh's gripes, Nobel laureate Derek Walcott declares: "Poetry has removed itself by its own choice into something that is private, that comes out in little magazines, that only other poets read." And Carol Rumens chips in with: "Poetry is read only by poets and that's its sickness."Both quotes come from As The Poet Said . . ., edit by Tony Curtis (the poet, not the actor) and taken from Dennis O'Driscoll's regular "Pickings and Choosings" column in Poetry Ireland Review. There are thousands of such quotes here - some funny, some wise, some pretentious - on how various poets view themselves, their craft, sex, marriage, money, drink - you name it, some poet or other has something to say about it.Elegantly produced by Poetry Ireland at £6.99, it's an anthology for dipping into rather than total immersion, but the dips are bracing.Poetry is what's on offer in Killarney's Bricin restaurant on four consecutive Friday nights, beginning next Friday with a reading by Medbh McGuckian, whose Selected Poems have just been published by the Gallery Press, with a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. On succeeding Fridays the performers will be Mary O'Malley, Fred Johnson and Birmingham reggae-dub poet Bejamin Xephaniah.This winter mini-arts festival is organised by the local Fia Rua Writers' Group, and a number of Fia Rua poets will read as supports acts to the headlined performers.This year's edition of Martello, the handsomely-produced arts review that has been appearing annually in recent years, is in the shops, but editors Maureen Charlton and Geraldine Walsh are hoping to bring it out on a quarterly basis from now on. Good luck to them.In the current issue, I like the poems by Justin Quinn, Hayden Murphy's memoir of that neglected literary patron John Ryan (who edited the Dublin Magazine and was proprietor of the Bailey), Aodhan Madden's evocation of the North Circular Road (the Norrier), and Mairin O'Farrell's interview with legendary McDaid's barman Paddy O'Brien. However, Mairin doesn't mention one famous incident - when new owners took over McDaid's barman Paddy O'Brien. However, Mairin doesn't mention one famous incident - when new owners took over McDaid's and Paddy went to work in Grogan's instead, former RTE producer Jim Fitzgerald pithily described the seismic occurrence as "a ship deserting sinking rats", or so the story goes, anyway, and if it's not true, it should be.Some of the illustrations in the current issue are in colour (very well-reproduced, too) so the asking price of £6 seems very reasonable.