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Dawn WhittakerIain Gael

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The Groucher's Club

 

Dear Grouchers’ Club,

We have assembled a list of the publishers in the U.K. who regularly publish well-produced books of contemporary poetry. They are (in no particular order): Flambard, Bloodaxe, Smith Doorstop, Redbeck, Faber & Faber, Cape, Rockingham, Picador, Stride, Peterloo, Carcanet, Chapman, Anvil, Arc, Enitharmon, Seren, and Lagan Press and Lapwing in Northern Ireland. There may be, almost certainly, one or two others we may have overlooked.

   At a guess these publishers account for 80% of the best poetry
published in the U.K. Yet when it comes to Poetry Book Society Choices and Recommendations, to the T.S. Eliot and Forward prize awards, rarely any but Fabers, Bloodaxe, Cape, Picador, or Carcanet seem to be in the running.

   This raises the following questions:

   Is entry to these awards deliberately made too difficult or costly
for all but ‘the chosen few’ mentioned?

   And if so, is this proof of a deliberate policy, the power of money,
or just straightforward snobbery and unacknowledged elitism?

   Or is it just further proof that, for all its high-minded intentions, the principal patron of poetry in this country, the Arts Council (and its Regional Arts Boards), has largely failed to promote a democratic and just awareness of poetry per se – only of publishers.

Yours faithfully,
          Dawn Whittaker and Iain Gael, Godalming

 

Page(s) 129-130

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