Acumen

After over 30 years, Patricia Oxley is standing down as Acumen's editor. Danielle Hope, who's long been connected with the magazine, will take over. I wish them both luck.

I suspect that Acumen's loyal readership is on the older side. I've been a subscriber for a long time. I've had several poems, letters and the odd article in it - worthwhile pieces (in my opinion) that I'd have trouble placing elsewhere, especially nowadays: pieces that non-poets might like.

The extensive reviews section (35 pages in the current issue) is very ably managed by Glyn Pursglove. It doesn't rush to cover all the latest stunning debuts. It also deals with translations and the work of established (though perhaps not fashionable) poets (Etty, etc). Books by, amongst others, Ni Chuilleanain and Longley are reviewed at length in the current issue.

Having a letters section (with maybe 4 months from submission to publication) may seem quaint in this Twitter age. The letters are often mini-articles though.

TS Eliot prize shortlist

On BBC radio 4's Front Row program on 22nd Jan, Lavinia Greenlaw (chair of the TS Eliot prize judges) had the difficult task of describing each of the 10 shortlisted books in a paragraph or so, justifying each without showing favour. I think she was careful to share out the praise without overusing any particular word. She used "extraordinary", "incredible", "astonishing", and "remarkable" twice each; "powerful", "amazing", "startling" once.

She thought that there's a new stylistic freedom afoot (I can believe that) and that poetry's caught up with the present in a way that other art-forms haven't yet (I'm far less sure about that). The poets have "interrogated the constructs". The quote I'll keep is "when language fails, people turn to poetry".

See also The Guardian's article

USA magazines

Which US magazines are worth sending to? Clifford Garstang's ranked lists are a good source of information -

• Poetry
• Fiction

Note that -

• a few of the magazines still prefer paper submissions
• many are University-based, with submission windows aligned to university terms.
• many make you pay to submit (often $3)

“One Story” doesn’t charge, and it’s one of the best. Consequently they get about 100 submissions a week (the shortest being 3,000 words, the limit 8,000). So they have to read maybe 30 million words a year. Don’t expect a quick reply.

A UK poetry submission schedule for Jan-Jun 2021

There's more uncertainty than usual about poetry magazines and pamphlet competitions. "Envoi" has gone and some other magazines are taking a breather. I'll update this list as I find out more.

• January
  • Kent and Sussex poetry competition - 1st Prize £1000, entry fee £5, deadline 31st Jan.
  • Stinging Fly - Submission window closes on Jan 16th
• February
  • Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine. 1st prize £1000. Fee £7. Deadline 14th Feb. See http://hippocrates-poetry.org/
  • Southword (deadline 28th Feb)
• March
  • Poetry Business pamphlet/book competition (deadline 1st March)
  • iOTA shot pamplet competition (deadline 22nd March. £20)
  • Ambit - Submission window opens on 1st (closes on 1st April)
  • Cinnamon's Poetry Pamphlet Prize. Fee £10, 2 pamphlets published. Deadline 31st March.
• April
  • Frogmore Papers - Submission window opens on the 1st
  • Snakeskin - deadline 5th April. Theme "Breathe"
  • Ware Poets Competition - Fee £4. 1st prize £600. Deadline 30th April
  • Ver Poets Competition - Fee £4. 1st prize £600. Deadline 30th April
• May
  • Under the radar - 1st-31st window for poetry. See https://www.ninearchespress.com/magazine.html
  • Interpreter's House - Submission window closes on 14th
  • Bridport - Competition deadline 31st May. See http://www.bridportprize.org.uk/
• June
  • Allegro window opens 1st June. Theme: Geography
  • Paperswans pamphlet competition (deadline 30th June)
  • High Window submissions open
  • The Alchemy Spoon theme: Body (deadline June 30th)
  • Poetry Birmingham (deadline June 30th)

A UK/Eire prose submission schedule for Jan-Jun 2021

As more magazines introduce submission windows, and competitions increase their significance, it's worth planning ahead. Details are more hazy this year - I'm unsure whether those below are correct - I'll update when I can. Some magazines are taking a break. Anyway, I shall try to submit to these (mostly UK) competitions and submission windows -

• January
  • Stinging Fly - Submission window closes on Jan 6th
  • Wigleaf - stories under a 1000 words. Submit during the last week in January - see http://wigleaf.com/about.htm
  • Pure Slush. Deadline 31st Jan? Theme: birth, new start. Max 1000 words
• February
  • Splonk 500 words. February window
  • Lost Balloon 1000 words. (1st-7th)
  • HU (deadline 7th Feb)
  • National Flash Fiction anthology. Theme: TA DA! MAGIC!. Max 500 words Deadline 15th Feb.
  • Ambit - Submission window opens on 1st. Closes on 1st March (you pay to submit)
  • Exeter - Competition deadline 28th Feb. Max 3000 words. Fee £7, 1st prize £700. See http://www.exeterwriters.org.uk/p/competition.html
• March
  • Popshot Theme - Growth (deadline 1st March). Short stories: 1,000 to 3,000 words. Flash fiction: 100 to 1,000 words
  • York Literary Review Theme - Time, Memory.
  • V Press flash pamphlet submissions (deadline 7th March)
  • Southword - fiction window (Deadline 31st March. Opens 1st Jan)
• April
  • Bath competition - deadline 15th April. Max 2,200 words. Fee £8, 1st prize £1200. See https://www.bathshortstoryaward.org/
  • Shooter. Theme: Escape. Deadline 25th April. 2k-6k words
  • QuietManDave Prize (Flash Fiction or Non-fiction). Deadline 17th April. 1st prize £1000 in each category. Fee £5.
• May
  • Bristol Competition - deadline 1st May. Max 4000 words. Fee £9, 1st prize £1000. There's an anthology too. See http://www.bristolprize.co.uk/
  • Interpreter's House - Submission window closes on 14th
  • Bridport - Competition deadline 31st May. Max 5000 words (Fee £9, 1st prize £5000) or 250 words (Fee £7, 1st prize £1000). See http://www.bridportprize.org.uk/
  • Frome story competition - Deadline 31st May. First prize £400. Entry fee £8. 1000-2200 words. See http://www.fromeshortstorycompetition.co.uk
  • Yeovil story competition - Deadline 31st May. Fee £7. 1st prize £500. Max 2000 words. See https://www.yeovilprize.co.uk
• June
  • VS Pritchett - (Fee £7.50, 1st prize £1000). See http://rsliterature.org/award/v-s-pritchett-memorial-prize/ Deadline 28th June.
  • Stinging Fly window opens.
  • Postbox story submissions close on 30th June.
  • Under the radar - 1st-30th window. See https://www.ninearchespress.com/magazine.html
  • Wells Festival Story Prize. Deadline 30th June. Fee £6. 1st prize £1000. 2000 words max
  • Tamarind - science-related prose (articles and stories). Deadline 30th June

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.

Prose in 2020

• This was the year of my blitz on story competitions. A complete failure. Few successes in magazines either.
• I've written more prose than usual. Nothing show-stopping. I like a 3000 word piece and a 250 word piece that I've written. Neither have been accepted yet.
• Because of covid I've been listening to audio books for the first time - a life-style change. I was unsure whether I could maintain attention intensely enough. I can handle "The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" (Stuart Turton) without having to make too many notes, so I reckon I'm going to be ok. I listened to several Booker long-listed novels that I wouldn't normally have read, and liked them more than I expected.
• I attended the Zoom launch of Postbox, issue 4 - the only virtual launch I've attended.
• I worked my way through my reading list of books old and new - "Asymmetry", "Regeneration", "The Prime of Miss Brodie" etc. My favourite books were the Bath Short Story Award anthologies.
• I noticed that the Edge Hill University Short Story Prize (worth £10,000 - the only UK based award to recognise excellence in a single authored short story collection) had a longlist of 12 authors, all female. I conclude that I must try harder.
• I ended the year by reading Zadie Smith's "Grand Union", a story collection which should give hope to budding short story writers. She famously got her first book contract while a Cambridge student, and still is a highly regarded writer. The pieces are in several styles (SF, essay, etc), some rather derivative - Cusk, Le Guin, etc. I guess it's good that she's experimenting. 5 were in New Yorker, 2 in Paris Review and 1 from Granta. The rest are unpublished. To me, Parents' Morning Epiphany is a dud - not even good of its type. Some of the others look dodgy too. Reviewers, even her fans, have doubts -
  • "At least eight of the 19 stories in Grand Union aren’t very good."
  • "an uneven grab bag of picked-up pieces and experiments — some of which, from an unknown or less-celebrated writer, might have stayed in a drawer"
  • "you’d think that this collection would be a banger of a book, but for me, unfortunately, it felt more like a wet squib – and needless to say I was hugely disappointed."