E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

First off, one of the best poetry books published in Great Britain in 2015 has, thankfully, just won a major poetry prize - Sarah Howe's brilliant Loop of Jade . The problem with the TS Eliot Awards is that they seek to be seen as the canonical, major UK poetry award of the year - and the way they are held over two days, with major readings before a gala announcement 24 hours later - is all part of the ceremonial pomp. Of course, they have serious competition from The Forward and Costa prizes. Two problems arose this year, which have rendered the Eliot awards too transparently flawed. Firstly, several of the best poetry books of the year (even as recognised by other prizes) were not even on the shortlist and hence not in contention: Small Hands by Mona Arshi , and Physical , by Andrew McMillan . I could list other excellent books missing, but each judging panel is likely to have some eccentricities within reason; more glaringly, it was another year without any genuinely sma...

Yesterday most of the world grieved on learning about the death of David Bowie - the extraordinary level of mourning marking a sense a figure as pivotal as Picasso had left the mortal planet. Cue BBC Radio 4, and Front Row, on just after The Archers in the evening, which decided, rightly, to focus its programming on Bowie. Among the guests invited to discuss his life and work was Lavinia Greenlaw , a well-known and talented Faber poet, novelist, and professor of creative writing. From the start, it was an odd affair - no one really discussed Bowie's work in film, for instance - and it felt a bit rushed, which, given the surprise announcement of his death, makes sense. In retrospect, asking Greenlaw to speak about Bowie from a poet's perspective seems an error, but she was introduced as a "long-time fan" of his music. At the very start of the Greenlaw segment, something dreadful happened - something so English in the worst sense of the word, I shudder at it. ...

Sad, devastating news - the undisputed world genius of popular independent music of the past 45 years, the chameleon and game-changer David Bowie , has died suddenly, of cancer, after releasing his 25th studio LP, Black Star , on Friday, on his 69th birthday. The Rev. Richard Cole , has called him the greatest Englishman of his time, and he was, without a doubt, the most influential rock/pop musician alive since the death in 1980 of John Lennon . RIP, you man of many parts.

2015 was the year I left teaching at university level (at least for awhile) after more than ten years in academia, often as a senior lecturer. I turned my attentions to my own writing (poems, essays, a novel I am crafting, screenplay ideas), and mostly, to editing, and running the indie press Eyewear, now into its 5th year. About Eyewear, little need be said here, except we published over 15 books this year, and I am immensely proud of all of them - and of course we also had our pamphlet series, 20/20, shortlisted for the Marks Prize. And our Mark Ford book won the prestigious Pegasus Award from THE POETRY FOUNDATION, in the USA. Our two best-sellers of the year were books on the new Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn , and a book of poems by celebrated singer-composer Keaton Henson. Both have sold over 1,500 copies in a crowded Christmas market. We also published books by great poets like Sean Singer, Andrew Shields, Ruth Stacey, Mel Pryor, AK Blakemore, and E. Stefanidi, H. Knibbe ...

EYEWEAR WISHES THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH AS MUCH PEACE, LOVE, JOY, BALANCE, GOOD CHEER AND FOOD AND WINE, LIGHTS AND WARMTH, AND SHELTER, AND HOPE, AND FRIENDSHIP AS THEY CAN FIND THIS NIGHT, AND ALL NIGHTS TO COME, WHETHER THEY WEAR SPECTACLES OR NOT. THERE IS ROOM FOR ALL OF US, BUT BE GENTLE WITH EACH OTHER, WE ARE IN TOUGH TIMES. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!

 

We are coming to the end of our 2015 list - today is the penultimate one - and of course we are unable to list all the many brilliant poetry collections that came out this year, but we hope that by tomorrow, and our 12th day, we will have shared a number of them with you. Think of this as a taster, a jumping off place, a gentle nudge.