It would be Eve Ellis or Hasti for me. I'm intrigued by the atmosphere in Ellis's poems and Hasti is very original. I slipped right into the poem about the robot machine with arms, but I read it from a neurodivergent perspective. The others left me a little cold.
I’d be interested to know how many pamphlets and how many publishers were entered for this year’s awards so that we can put in perspective the shortlisting of exclusively debut poets. An important function of the poetry pamphlet I agree is to give poets their first taste of publication, setting them on the road to an eventual full collection but it is far from the only function of poetry pamphlets. They are often chosen by established poets, older poets, poets with a particular long poem or group of poems that work well in that format. It’s important that we celebrate the diversity and rich variety of the poetry pamphlet. [Full disclosure: I am a small poetry pamphlet publisher and we enter each year as publisher and also enter individual pamphlets; we have won the Publisher of the Year in the past and our poets have been shortlisted or won so there’s no resentment here. I just want a bit more information].
Really appreciate the detailed reviews and careful discussion.
Fabulous reviews and thoughtful reflection as ever. It also reminded me how much I used to enjoy Helena's Sphinx reviews.
Beautiful and incisive analysis. Just a heads up, Hasti goes by they/them (as stated in their bio) not she/her.
Oh gosh, you're right, Gale, thank you.
It would be Eve Ellis or Hasti for me. I'm intrigued by the atmosphere in Ellis's poems and Hasti is very original. I slipped right into the poem about the robot machine with arms, but I read it from a neurodivergent perspective. The others left me a little cold.
I’d be interested to know how many pamphlets and how many publishers were entered for this year’s awards so that we can put in perspective the shortlisting of exclusively debut poets. An important function of the poetry pamphlet I agree is to give poets their first taste of publication, setting them on the road to an eventual full collection but it is far from the only function of poetry pamphlets. They are often chosen by established poets, older poets, poets with a particular long poem or group of poems that work well in that format. It’s important that we celebrate the diversity and rich variety of the poetry pamphlet. [Full disclosure: I am a small poetry pamphlet publisher and we enter each year as publisher and also enter individual pamphlets; we have won the Publisher of the Year in the past and our poets have been shortlisted or won so there’s no resentment here. I just want a bit more information].