Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

Dear Grouchers’ Club,

Your correspondent, Tim Love, would deprive Lavinia Greenlaw of her grant from the National Endowment (etc.) He complains that she is not young enough, at 38, to be called ‘promising,’ and does not agree that the virtues of her two books entitle her to be named one of the best poets of the last decade.

   I think that the National Endowment’s assessment of Greenlaw and her poetry is spot on. Women rarely reach their peak at 38. Even though her work to date has been superb, we can rightly expect that there will be fascinating developments in it during the next 38 years and beyond.

   This is not to take anything away from the other two poets Love mentions as worthy of awards – Mario Petrucci and Edward Lowbury. Let’s hope they, too, will be rewarded for their excellent work over the years.

   I do not understand why some poets feel a need to attack those who achieve some minimal worldly recognition through their work. £67,000 is certainly more than most poets receive for their work in a lifetime, but it is small change compared to the earnings of footballers, for instance. If one must feel envious of another’s success and, therefore, angry, why not rage at a culture that places so little value on art, and on poetry in particular? To turn on a dedicated colleague in that way is to accept this value system and, in fact, diminish the labour and achievements of all poets.

   Why not congratulate Lavinia Greenlaw and, by so doing, raise our own aspirations and expectations both for decent remuneration and, more importantly, perhaps, ever greater excellence in the craft for ourselves?

With all good wishes,

Leah Fritz, London