from the 'Books and Bookmen' column of _Private Eye_ July 26, 2002
POETS CORNERED
The small but perfectly formed world of modern British poetry looks
even smaller following the announcement of the shortlist for the
Forward Prize, Britain's biggest poetry award.
This year's judges include two poets published by Picador (Sean
O'Brien and Michael Donaghy), who have shortlisted two other Picador
poets (Peter Porter and Paul Farley) for the £10,000 top prize. Last
year's judging panel also included two Picador poets--Donaghy (again)
and Peter Porter.
Last year Porter gave the main prize to Sean O'Brien. What's the
betting O'Brien won't now give it back to his mentor, enabling both
friends to pocket ten grand? Or will their protegé Paul Farley be
the one to take the loot this time around?
Last year the £5,000 prize for "best first collection" went to
another Picador poet, John Stammers (a product of Donaghy's poetry
workshops), and the £1,000 "best single poem" prize was given to Ian
Duhig for a poem--you guessed it--from his forthcoming Picador
collection. The same poem earlier won Duhig the £5,000 top prize in
the Poetry Society's national poetry competition, judged by a
three-man panel including his mate Don Paterson, the foul-mouthed
Scottish bard who also happens to be the poetry editor at, er,
Picador.
This year's five-poet Forward shortlist includes two other chums,
David Harsent and John Fuller (winner of the Forward prize in 1996,
when one of the judges was again Sean O'Brien). And Sean O'Brazen
was one of three judges of the 1997 T. S. Eliot prize (worth £5,000),
which was awarded to. . . his own editor, Don Paterson.
Duhig, Donaghy, O'Brien, Harsent and Paterson all have the same
agent, TriplePa, aka Gerry Wardle--who just happens to be Sean
O'Brien's partner. And Donaghy, Duhig, Farley, Fuller, Harsent,
Paterson and Porter have all received fulsome write-ups from the
_Sunday Times's_ main poetry critic, one Sean O'Brien.
Those outside the charmed circle may wonder if there are any poets
worth honouring who don't happen to be Picador authors, friends of
O'Brien or clients of his missus. (Are there, for example, some
meritorious women? Apparently not, to judge by the omission of Alice
Oswald, Carol Ann Duffy, Helen Dunmore and Selima Hill from the
Forward list.) Until the Forward organizers desist from asking
O'Brazen and his cronies to judge their prize, we may never know.
"Bookworm"
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