Friday 18 December 2020

Poetry in 2020

  • More of the magazines that I've subscribed to have disappeared, and I've not renewed subscriptions to some others (e.g Rialto, Stand) because I understand far too few of their poems - I think they've changed more than I have.
  • My successes have been limited in number though I'm glad I got in The High Window and Fenland Journal
  • I've written 6 poems this year. I wish their scarcity meant they were good.
  • I didn't enter any poetry competitions except for the Magma pamphlet competition.
  • I've given up thinking I can ever get in Poetry Review, PN Review, Poetry London, etc.
  • I've read quite a few poetry books. As usual I didn't choose just the books I thought I'd like. I understood very little of "Wade in the water" (Tracey K Smith) and "The Prince of Wails" (Stephen Knight). I thought "Fleche" (Mary Jean Chan) was far longer than it needed to be - it would have been better as a single-topic pamphlet. I liked Happenstance pamphlets by Edwards and Buckley.
  • From my (very limited) viewpoint, I feel that the poetry community is expanding in terms of styles and ethnic origins, even if the statistics don't yet show it. There's more fusion and vitality.
  • I didn't replace my attempts at physical networking by virtual networking. I miss the small-press book fairs.

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