Doreen PearceLynda O'Neill
Selectors' Statement
W ITH seven hundred poems to read, selection
was a daunting but engrossing process. We
just had to rely on what we instinctively felt was good.
We decided to take only one poem from each of the
chosen poets but there were a few second poems we
couldn’t bear to leave out.
Initially we had very disparate views, but after
discussion and negotiation we came to a consensus.
We were drawn to poems with people in them, wit
and irony, a wry sidelong glance, contemporary
language that fizzes, poems which tried to make a
pattern out of the chaos of life and communicated
a shared human experience.
We were also looking for an economy of words,
poems which distilled meaning rather than
drowning it in words, and we wanted words and
rhythms that sang their way off the page.
As poets, the experience taught us much; in particular
the importance of a good title and a strong finish.
This edition contains, we hope, some powerful poems
that will haunt you as much as they do us.
Doreen Pearce
Lynda O’Neill
was a daunting but engrossing process. We
just had to rely on what we instinctively felt was good.
We decided to take only one poem from each of the
chosen poets but there were a few second poems we
couldn’t bear to leave out.
Initially we had very disparate views, but after
discussion and negotiation we came to a consensus.
We were drawn to poems with people in them, wit
and irony, a wry sidelong glance, contemporary
language that fizzes, poems which tried to make a
pattern out of the chaos of life and communicated
a shared human experience.
We were also looking for an economy of words,
poems which distilled meaning rather than
drowning it in words, and we wanted words and
rhythms that sang their way off the page.
As poets, the experience taught us much; in particular
the importance of a good title and a strong finish.
This edition contains, we hope, some powerful poems
that will haunt you as much as they do us.
Doreen Pearce
Lynda O’Neill
Page(s) 16
magazine list
- Features
- zines
- 10th Muse
- 14
- Acumen
- Agenda
- Ambit
- Angel Exhaust
- ARTEMISpoetry
- Atlas
- Blithe Spirit
- Borderlines
- Brando's hat
- Brittle Star
- Candelabrum
- Cannon's Mouth, The
- Chroma
- Coffee House, The
- Dream Catcher
- Equinox
- Erbacce
- Fabric
- Fire
- Floating Bear, The
- French Literary Review, The
- Frogmore Papers, The
- Global Tapestry
- Grosseteste Review
- Homeless Diamonds
- Interpreter's House, The
- Iota
- Journal, The
- Lamport Court
- London Magazine, The
- Magma
- Matchbox
- Matter
- Modern Poetry in Translation
- Monkey Kettle
- Moodswing
- Neon Highway
- New Welsh Review
- North, The
- Oasis
- Obsessed with pipework
- Orbis
- Oxford Poetry
- Painted, spoken
- Paper, The
- Pen Pusher Magazine
- Poetry Cornwall
- Poetry London
- Poetry London (1951)
- Poetry Nation
- Poetry Review, The
- Poetry Salzburg Review
- Poetry Scotland
- Poetry Wales
- Private Tutor
- Purple Patch
- Quarto
- Rain Dog
- Reach Poetry
- Review, The
- Rialto, The
- Second Aeon
- Seventh Quarry, The
- Shearsman
- Smiths Knoll
- Smoke
- South
- Staple
- Strange Faeces
- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
- Thumbscrew
- Tolling Elves
- Ugly Tree, The
- Weyfarers
- Wolf, The
- Yellow Crane, The