(Hi Trevor)
Slightly less disrespectable, presumably, is the Poetry Book Society, in
which it is the readers not the poets who pay, to receive copies of the
volumes selected by the judges. I don't know whether the publishers also
have to pay something; but in the last few years -- apologies to all who
know this already at first hand -- they have been also selecting a
'pamphlet choice', thus potentially at least opening up a wider
readership to little presses (who certainly don't have to pay) -- I
believe they will list *any pamphlets notified to them, in their
Bulletin. Last quarter (I meant to mention at the time, and hope I'm not
repeating someone else's news) the Pamphlet Choice was Helen Mania by
Kelvin Corcoran, pub. Poetical Histories -- a long-running press with
full 'innovative' credentials. Congratulations to all parties!
The latest communication from the PBS to poetry publishers concerns the
T.S. Eliot Prize, which will be awarded to 'the best collection of new
verse' in English published in the UK in 2005 (closing date 5 August
however). There is an interesting new Rule this year:
"Books which contain more than 20% translations (or versions, imitations
*or any poetry inspired by the work of one or more other writers*) [my
emphasis] will not be eligible. Percentages should be calculated on the
total number of lines of poetry in a book."
Last year Tom Paulin's Road to Inver, a book all of translations, was
shortlisted (didn't win, though in my opinion the strongest). Normally
the TSE
shortlist has 10 books on it, all part of the publicity jamboree, with a
big reading the night before the final announcement etc. etc. However
the necessity for 80% of the lines in a book to be totally devoid of
connection of any kind with another writer should thin it out a bit.
elizabeth
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