Eyewear Publishing has received numerous submissions from across the world - from China, Africa, Australia/ New Zealand, North America, Ireland, the UK, Europe and South America - from poets born in 1980 or since, whose first full collection this would be. Submission was free. The "sifter" is Todd Swift and Tim Dooley will judge the final shortlist, which cannot be more than 12 poetry collections. The winner will be announced in August, and their collection will be published by Eyewear Publishing no later than in 2013; they will also receive a thousand pound prize. The quality of the work has been eye-opening, and has made the compilation of even such a large shortlist challenging. As part of the excitement of the run-up to the Jubilee holiday, Eyewear will begin announcing each winner on a semi-regular basis over the next fortnight, as if leaked by a papal butler.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
Comments
This confirms my growing suspicion that these days there seem to be more writers of poetry than readers of it. Good luck to all your contestants.
Best wishes from Simon