Category: Mags & Blogs

Angst/

A poetry Spring clean

I’m finally getting myself back on track after two weeks of Jury Service. There are blogs to attend to, email updates to send, all manner of poetry admin for Telltale Press, Brighton Stanza and Needlewriters and maybe, just maybe some time to do some actual writing and even sending off. Oh and the small matter of a pending house move. Possibly.

So it’s time for some clearing out and cleaning up. A good friend recently did a massive wardrobe overhaul and I was the happy recipient of a ton of free clothes and ‘accessories’ – not being an accessories kind of gal I’ve now increased the number of scarves and bags I own by about 800%. My husband thinks I’ve been abducted and replaced with someone far more well-heeled. To make space for all this (we still live in a little house … at least for another 6 weeks or so) I now have another huge bag of other stuff to take to the charity shop. And a good clean out of drawers and wardrobe done prior to The Big Move.

What this is all leading up to of course is the fact that SPRING CLEAN MANIA has infected the ‘poetry’ folder (and all its sub-folders) on my computer.  I started archiving poems in February and both the ‘archive’ and ‘not for publication’ folders are now bulging. (The latter is important – if anything were to happen to me, it will be very clear to any kind friend or family member going through my poems WHICH ones must never see the light of day. A bit control-freakish? Maybe!)

I am also doing a ruthless cull of outstanding submissions. Yes folks, I’ve taken a unilateral decision – and no doubt some people will find this controversial – to finally consider dead those submissions I’ve been waiting on since August and September last year. Inasmuch as I’m taking them out of the ‘pending’ folder and either resubmitting, editing or shelving them.  Here’s how it all ended (an update to a previous post on this topic):

Magazine A: 4 poems submitted by email (£1 paid) August 2014 – that’s 268 days /38 weeks ago. First gentle enquiry sent November 2014, no response. Second enquiry January 2015, no response. Since then, I’ve heard from two poet friends that this particular magazine had never replied to their submissions either, even after a year. It’s a shame, because it was a good publication and I’ve had work in it in the past, but I feel all the goodwill I had for them has been sucked out me and spat back in my face.

Magazine B: 4 poems submitted September 2014. I had included two SAEs – one was purely a receipt, which was kindly sent back to me six weeks later. I provided this because 2 previous submissions had been lost.  I didn’t enquire about these poems, because I was reassured by the receipt, plus this is a magazine I have a lot of time for and I didn’t want to hassle the editors. When I did finally enquire recently, after 8 months, I did get a quick response, but it was clear from the many questions and answers we exchanged that the poems couldn’t be located. In the end I told them not to spend any more time looking, and that I would consider them withdrawn.

It was a sad decision to make, but I’ve had that particular editor running round looking for my poems more than once before, and there’s no point annoying editors unnecessarily or giving them extra work. There’s certainly no point flogging a dead horse: I can’t help but think that if there was anything good about the poems they wouldn’t have ended up at the bottom of a filing tray or stuck to the sole of someone’s shoe.

In the meantime, of course, many other publications have read and responded to submissions I’ve sent them, some quickly, some slowly, some acceptances but more rejections – and that’s the natural ebb and flow of poems in and poems out. As I’ve said before, I am sympathetic to overworked editors and in their position I’m sure I’d get fed up with reading bad work and dealing with the odd bit of bad poet behaviour. Although to be honest I don’t know of any poets who bombard magazines with stroppy enquiries or any of the other things we submitters are regularly accused of.

What I do know is that there are magazine editors who are good excellent at:

  1. managing poets’ expectations by keeping instructions on their website accurate – and if this means stating ‘do not enquire until after 6 months have passed’ or even ‘we do not respond to all submissions’ then so be it!  (I know of several publications who state these are their policies, and I respect them for that. After all, if I don’t like it, I don’t have to submit, do I?)
  2. responding to polite enquiries received after the ‘expect a reply by’ date. Is it so hard to do?

So – what now to do with the 8 poems now back in circulation? On first glance I think I’ve already revised a couple of them. There are another 3 or 4 I think I will shelve for now. Which leaves 2 or 3 I’m still happy with as is.

Now if I were REALLY serious about Spring cleaning I wouldn’t be archiving the old or bad poems, I’d be deleting them completely – but I just find that very hard to do, stupid as it may sound.

Anyway, that’s now off my chest. There is of course the small matter of the 5 poems submitted to another publication in November 2014 that I’m still waiting on … I’ve had no response to my two enquiries, but I’m giving it until July before writing that one off.

 

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Finding new homes

jeremy Page reading at Needlewriters
Jeremy Page reading at Needlewriters

I’m currently in the middle of what the meedja likes to tell us is one of life’s most stressful times – moving house. I’ve managed to weather the others (divorce, bereavement, being fired, Liverpool failing to win their 10th championship in 1978 etc) so it shouldn’t be that bad. Also, I am lucky enough to have a husband to share the experience with. The idea of relocating to another town, albeit in the same county, is exciting, and is making me think a lot about what ‘home’ means, and the process of finding and building a new home after being thirteen years in the same place (easily the longest I’ve lived anywhere).

One of the things I know I will miss is Lewes’s literary scene – I’ve been warned it isn’t quite the same where we’re going, but I guess the answer is to do something about that! Last night it was the quarterly Needlewriters meeting, with poets Jeremy Page and Judith Cair reading, and it reminded me what a privilege it is to live a couple of minutes away. A poet friend was telling about how much she enjoys workshops with Mimi Khalvati, who comes regularly to Lewes, and how wonderful it was to have a poet of her standing coming here, to us. Mark Hewitt’s Lewes Live Lit stages all kinds of workshops and events in the town. And then of course there’s Telltale Press, a Lewes-based project if ever there was one… I can’t take it with me!

It’s still early days and anything could happen, but we’ve found our ideal home and are hoping it will actually be our home within a few months.

And speaking of homes … (crass segue alert) … despite another rejection from Lighthouse this week (boo!), homes have been found for 2 new poems at Brittle Star who are taking one for issue 36 and another for issue 37. And co-editor Martin Parker has invited me to read at the launch of 36 in London in May. Big hurrahs all round!

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News round-up: poetry submissions, readings etc

Just a quick update… I haven’t been blogging as much lately as I am knee-deep in a job, and paid work must be paid attention to! But a few things to report:

Submissions

Those nice chaps at Prole magazine are taking a poem of mine for their April edition, which is fab news, and THANK YOU Brett and Phil for such a prompt response to submissions. The poem I sent them is not quite my usual style, and I hadn’t sent it anywhere else. If Prole hadn’t wanted it then I probably would have tried ‘Obsessed with Pipework’ and failing that ‘Morphrog’ – both of which tend to like off-the-wall stuff. Anyway, the poem is a sort of ballsy paean to Don Paterson, but I’ll probably never read it at a poetry reading, although I’d like to hear it read by someone with more balls than me!

Also delighted that next week (April 6th) my poem ‘Small Horse’ will be up on Ink, Sweat & Tears. Big thanks to Helen Ivory for that.

No other submissions news – currently waiting on:
4 poems, out for 228 days (33 weeks)
4 for 203 days (29 weeks)
5 for 148 days (21 weeks)
6 for 24 days (3 weeks)
5 for 5 days

Readings & Events

I was really looking forward to attending the National Poetry Competition prize giving gala evening tomorrow, but it’s looking like I will have to send my apologies as I have a stinking cold. Boo. Hope I get asked again, I really enjoyed it last year.

Telltale Press is moving up a gear – not only do we have our next reading coming up here in Lewes on Wednesday 15th April (where I’ll be hosting but not reading – I’m leaving that to Martin Malone, Peter Kenny, Ryan Whatley and Helen Fletcher), but we’ve also signed our latest member, Siegfried Baber, who’s launching his pamphlet in at Topping’s Bookshop in Bath on Wednesday 13th May. Whoah! Telltale in Bath – please come if you’re anywhere nearby.

We’re also about to announce our fourth member, and another pamphlet launch – which we’re all very excited about – I’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile I’m out and about with readings in Highgate (London) on 22nd April, Brighton 30th April, Mayfield on 3rd May, Lewes on 14th June and Camberwell (London) on 22nd June. Yeehah!

I’m also at Brighton Library on Saturday 25th April at the New Writing South Industry Day, where I’ll be having my brains picked on the subject of social media, blogging etc for writers.

There’s a black hole hovering (can a hole hover?) over the end of April and beginning of May, when I’ve been called up for jury service. Fingers crossed it’s over within that time and doesn’t drag on for months – you do hear horror stories. Then by June or July, we should be moving house, if everything goes to plan. So a busy few months. Just need to banish this cold.

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Currently reading

Currently reading March 2015

Here’s what’s on my bedside table this month vying with the Sudoku book…

The March issue of Poetry arrived the other day so I’ve only just dipped into it. A wonderful piece towards the end by Kate Farrell introducing an unfinished poem by her ex-husband Kenneth Koch written when he was in Rome in 1978. This resonates with me particularly as it was to Rome that I ran away in 1979 and I’ve strong memories of that time and place. Other stand-outs so far: three wonderful poems by Michelle Y. Burke. Here’s one: Diameter. It’s exciting to get Poetry in the post – always new names and new surprises.

Jackie Wills, Woman’s Head as Jug (Arc, 2013). Jackie is someone I’ve been aware of for a long time as she’s Brighton-based and well-known in these parts as a writer and tutor, and although I’ve only heard her read twice it was memorable. I loved the short poems I’d heard from the middle section of Woman’s Head as Jug (great title!) in a sequence called ‘Sweats’, partly with the fear of ‘oh god is this what’s to come’ but also for their precision and black humour. The book begins with a series of poems giving voice to an eclectic range of female workers, from ‘A Lone Leaping Woman’ (which we’re told is a female itinerant worker in Mediaeval England) to ‘Dorset Buttonmaker’ and possibly the poet herself in ‘Saturday Girl’.

Pippa Little, Overwintering (Carcanet 2012). I came across Pippa’s name on a competition shortlist recently and something made me look her up. On Susan Rich’s blog I found two poems from Overwintering – read them here  – which made me want to buy the collection and I’m not sorry I did. Lots to get stuck into and enjoy here.

Byron, Selected Verse & Prose Works including Letters and Extracts from Lord Byron’s Journals and Diaries (ed. Quennell, Collins 1959). I’ve never read any Byron. Although I’m a reasonable bluffer should I need to pretend I have. This book came to me via my husband’s step-daughter who was clearing her grandparents’ house and put all the poetry books into a box with my name on. There was no pressure on me to have them all, thankfully, but I gratefully took this one, as well as a Rupert Brooke Collected and a Penguin Poets first edition of Burns. I’ve actually gone straight to Byron’s journal and ‘detached thoughts’, basically the 19th century equivalent of a blog. I’m excited at the idea of learning more about his life, work and personality through these writings. This book is a little odd in that it’s been bound upside-down, which means I always try opening it the wrong way. Hmmm.

Katherine Mansfield, Selected Stories (OUP 2008). I’ve always wanted to read some Katherine Mansfield. Perhaps partly because of her being published by the Hogarth Press and her connection to the Bloomsbury group (Charleston House is very near Lewes and I’m a fan of its annual literary festival.) In my book group a few years ago we discussed reading her but it never happened, so now I’m reading it in my book group of one.

Agnieszka Studzinska, What Things Are (Eyewear, 2104). I haven’t started this yet but I’m looking forward to it. I found myself sitting next to Agnieszka (who kindly told me she goes by the name ‘Nisha’ for short) at a recent Coffee House Poetry workshop. She’s one of those beautiful, modest AND talented poets who are also down-to-earth and friendly – GRRR! – for heaven’s sake, Nisha, give the rest of us mortals a break!! The collection comes with warm blurbs from Michael Symmons Roberts, Deryn Rees-Jones and Hannah Lowe. One to watch, if you’re not already watching her.

Angst/

Poetry submissions – stats for last 6 months, stocktake

poetry files

Just a quick update on my poetry submissions, in case you’re interested – I know people often like a comparison, and while those “I’m delighted to announce…” successes are all very nice to hear about, sometimes it’s good be reassured that you’re not the only one who’s not currently delighted about anything.  So, I’ve just done a 6 month audit and here’s what my submissions tracker tells me:

Magazines, waiting on:
4 poems currently out for 193 days
4 poems out for 168 days
5 poems out for 113 days
3 out for 8 days

There seems to be a long gap (no poems sent out between November and February) but that’s not entirely true, as some things were sent and returned in that time. Thanks so much to Antiphon and Ambit (among others) for your prompt responses!

Since last August I’ve had 24 poems declined by 6 magazines and 2 accepted.

Competitions: I’ve entered 11 poems in six competitions, the results of which are one 1st placed poem, one shortlisted and two sunk without trace, with the 3 remaining comps still to be judged.

On the whole I think I’ve sent out less material during this period than I’ve done in the past. I don’t have a fixed strategy, you know, such as sending a poem straight back out as soon as it’s returned. I also think I’m a bit more circumspect than I used to be.

When I first starting sending poems to magazines in early 2010, I think the first few acceptances (when they came) were like a drug – I was awash with the confidence that’s easy to have when you’re new to something. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose – and as with anything, the more you learn the more you realise the extent of that ignorance, and are humbled by it. So now I tend to sit on a poem that’s been declined, maybe go back to it a few weeks or months later, fiddle with it, wonder if it would fit another publication, sit on it a bit longer.

The other day I spent the evening filing – although I keep everything on the computer I do print poems off when I send them somewhere, or read them at an event. I’ve decided to archive a huge number of poems – the ones that never lived up to my own assessment of their merit – and I’m aiming to keep the “working on / not out at the moment” pile small. Instead of endless tweaking, I’m focusing more on writing new material. I’ve basically let go of a lot of stuff. It makes it easier to  look forward rather than back, and for me at least that’s important, as is a belief that the best work is yet to come. Do you agree? Any thoughts?

Angst/

Breaking this week (poetry and tech)

i broke it
I broke my blog and can’t fix it

The eagle-eyed reader of this blog may have noticed a few wee changes in the look of it. Yes, I’ve changed the Theme, but it all happened rather more quickly than I was expecting, and the day before I was giving a blogging workshop. So I spent four hours trying to make my broken blog look half-respectable. DUH. It’s still not quite how I want it, but that’s my fault for being so trigger-happy and always wanting to change things.

Then, the workshop was going well, until I introduced the class to Pixlr, which I’ve used many times, but for some reason it wasn’t doing what I expected. OH WOE! Never rely on technology in front of an audience, dear readers. It has certainly led to many a pratfall in my time.

On the poetry front, good news: I feel I may have written a half-decent poem, my first in a while. Hurrah!  But I can’t decide where to send it – to Black Hole Magazine*, or the No Hope Poetry Competition*? It’s a tough call!

More good news: the lovely Helen Ivory has accepted a poem for Ink, Sweat & Tears – thank you, thank you Ms I! – to appear some time in the Spring. Another poem made it onto the Plough Prize shortlist (results out in March I believe, but the winners have already been notified, so I know that’s as far as my poem got – the shortlist and longlist idea is great, as it gives you some consolation that your poem wasn’t entirely yawn-worthy.)

Very busy at the moment – with work, with homelife, with other poetry projects such as Telltale Press – we’ve nearly got all our readers for our next Telltale Poets & Friends reading in Lewes on 15th April – and the Needlewriters – launching our anthology next month, and a lot of online proofing to do.

I’m also researching my next ‘regional focus’ for this blog – Cumbria, I’m cumbring your way (sorry!) and one or two poet interviews for the Spring. So lots in the pipeline, and I’ll try not to break anything else.

* absolutely no slight intended towards the lovely mags and comp judges who have been so kind as to place my work in the past!

Image credit: Themewich.com

Angst/

A model rejection letter

The other day I received an email rejection letter from Rattle, an excellent US magazine I both subscribe to and aspire to being published in. So yes, it was a blow to have my poems rejected. But I didn’t feel dejected. Here’s why. Editor Tim Green sends out what I can only describe as a model rejection letter.

As we all know, rejections can vary in quality, and you just have to deal with them. But I do believe there are good and bad ways to reject, just as we’re always being told there are good and bad ways to submit our poems.

So, rather than naming and shaming the poor ones I think it’s better all round to draw attention to the very best, in the hope that others may follow suit. With Tim Green’s permission I am reproducing the entire letter here:

Dear Robin,

Thank you for sending us “4 poems from Robin Houghton – thanks for considering,” but unfortunately we’ve decided not to publish any of these pieces. I want to assure you that your work has been taken under careful consideration—Megan and I each read every poem before replying, so everything has been read twice by the actual editors.

This is a form letter—necessary with a staff of two and all these submissions—but what I’m about to say is sincere: Unlike most literary magazines, we don’t directly solicit work from anyone; we feel that practice isn’t fair, and doesn’t make for a good magazine. Instead, we read a great number of poems—over 80,000 each year—and publish our favorite 150, regardless of who wrote them. The odds are always going to be long, but that’s the only thing that keeps the quality of the magazine as high as it is. We always appreciate the opportunity to read your work—that’s what we’re here to do.

Also, it should go without saying that our decision to return this submission doesn’t mean much. We’re just fans of poetry ourselves, and all tastes are subjective. Moreover, we’re always looking to make the magazine as eclectic as possible—often we end up turning down submissions that we enjoy, simply because they’re similar in tone or content to other pieces we’ve published.

In any event, thanks for continuing to share your work. We’re happy to read submissions any time, year-round—and we just announced that we’ll be paying all contributors $50 per piece, too. So hopefully we’ll always be at the top of your list for places to send new poems.

Best Wishes,
Tim

Timothy Green
Editor
tim@rattle.com
www.rattle.com

So there you have it – an honest, matter-of-fact, informative and elegant rejection letter. No hand-wringing, no patronising and no BS.

I’m a big fan of the simple but kind ‘your poems weren’t right on this occasion, sorry’ rejection slip. But if you’re going to say any more than that, then this, surely is the model to live up to.

I hope if I’m ever in Tim’s position I’ll be able to do as good a job.

Angst/

Submissions – to enquire or not to enquire?

Submissions - to enquire or not?

First of all a huge thank you to Matthew Stewart of Rogue Strands who has once again mentioned my blog in his ‘Best UK Poetry Blogs of the Year’ roundup. It’s exciting to be in there with such great company, and always very nice to know this blog is read and enjoyed. I think all bloggers have those days when you’re writing something and you suddenly think “what if no-one reads this, am I just sneezing into the ether?” or whatever.

Now we have those crazy last two weeks before Christmas which, in a musical household, tends to mean every spare moment is taken up with concerts and the myriad jobs they involve. Poetry has to take a secondary role. Having said that, tonight is a last huzzah of the year with the Brighton Stanza having a seasonal evening of readings, magazine-swapping, socialising, celebrating and commiserating. I’ve managed to delegate the compering to two fine poets with big personalities and am looking forward to hearing a wide variety of poetry styles and performances from our eclectic mix of members, Brighton-stylee.

overwhelmed editor
I do sympathise. Honest.

Submissions news: no news (and not necessarily good news). But I did come across a very handy tool put together by Nathaniel Tower on his blog Juggling Writer – it’s a spreadsheet for keeping track of submissions. (The link to it is about halfway through this article.) My own submissions tracking started off very well but has gone a bit scruffy lately, and having inputted my current ‘out’ poems into Nathaniel’s nice clean version, I can see at-a-glance that I have 13 poems that have been out for 34 days, 4 for 50 days, 2 for 61 days, 4 for 89 days and 4 for a whopping 114 days.

I did recently enquire about the four poems that were submitted 114 days ago (August 16th) – a very polite enquiry of the magazine in question, asking where they might be in their reading schedule to give me some idea of how much longer before a response. I was brief, and about as friendly, humble and self-effacing as I could be within the confines of human dignity. But it didn’t surprise me not to get a reply, which in itself makes me sad.

I’m trying very hard to see it from the magazine’s point of view. I’ve read all the articles about how editors are overwhelmed, losing money and hair, besieged by poets who don’t read the magazine or the guidelines, who pester and get shirty if they’re rejected and so forth. The magazine editors I know or have met are nice people with a difficult job. I do understand and generally speaking I know you just have to wait, and when you get a ‘no’, you move on and send it elsewhere. I obey the ‘no simultaneous submissions’ rules and am prepared to tie up poems for months on end, that’s just what poets do.  I rarely enquire – but when I do, I wring my hands and think and think about the wording. I try to be as considerate as possible. But I don’t think it would be unreasonable to submit elsewhere after five months if a gentle query brings no reply.

Do you agree? Do you ever enquire about a submission, and if so, at what point? Do you get a response?

Meanwhile, a quick plug for the next Telltale Press event at the Poetry Cafe in London on Wednesday 7th January at 7pm – please come if you’re anywhere near London. It’s FREE! On the bill are Catherine Smith, Canadian poet Rhona McAdam, Siegfreid Baber plus Peter Kenny and myself. There’s a Facebook event page, let us know if you’re coming and hope to see you there.

Angst/

Stanza Reps & Reading at Keats House

Last Wednesday I spent a good part of the day at Keats House in London – in the afternoon meeting with around 35 or so Stanza Reps from around the country and beyond, then the evening AGM where I’d been invited to read. Even as I write that I find it slightly unreal. But it did actually happen – I know this because although part of me thinks there are some things in my life I may have invented or imagined, in this case I do actually have photos.

Keats House

Things started well. As I got to Keats House a jay flew in and landed on a bush right in front of me, which felt like a good omen. I’ve only seen a jay once before and not exactly up close. It seems just too colourful a bird to be British (and yes I know we have parakeets but they’re just arrivistes – ooh! I is that a half-rhyme?)

Paul McGrane of the Poetry Society had co-ordinated the Reps’ meeting and it was a great chance to meet up with reps I already knew such as Antony Mair (Hastings), Robert Harper (Shrewsbury), Margaret Beston (Tonbridge), Sarah Leavesley (Worcestershire) and Tessa Lang (Clapham), and others I’d never met – although many of the names were familiar.

We had short readings from some of the reps, myself included, and these were interjected through the afternoon rather than all in one go, which I thought was a great idea. There was plenty of discussion about meeting etiquette & procedure, now to put together an anthology, events and so forth. If you’re not familiar with Stanzas – they’re volunteer-run groups, under the auspices of the Poetry Society, although anyone can attend, you don’t have to be a Poetry Society member. I’m the rep for Brighton, although I live about 7 miles away in Lewes, but luckily I have a ‘loose committee’ of helpers and others who help with things like booking venues. It’s quite a lot of work, but enjoyable – even with the occasional ‘difficult’ customer.

Stanza Reps at Keats House

Hurrah for the Stanza reps and the Poetry Society! A very useful and enjoyable afternoon. With half an hour or so between the Reps’ meeting and the AGM, Robert Harper and I went off to a local cafe for a coffee and a chat about his magazine Bare Fiction. It’s a beautiful-looking book and Robert’s done an amazing job building up the readership and dealing with the avalanches of submissions he gets, PLUS running a successful competition, all in its first year.

Robin Houghton poet reading at Keats House

By the time my reading ‘slot’ came along I was nervous but itching to get up there. I’m looking a bit stiff in this photo – but at least my eyes are open! It wasn’t a huge audience, but it included incoming and outgoing trustees, all the key staff and many fine poets. Also reading were  Suzanna Fitzpatrick (who won the Hamish Canham Prize this year) and Daljit Nagra who was great fun, and whose poem about Krishna pleasuring hundreds of new brides at the same time (which is OK apparently, because he’s a god) was very funny indeed.

Suzanna Fitzpatrick, Daljit Nagra & Robin Houghton poetry reading

It just felt like a huge privilege to be there and to have those people even give my two wee poems the time of day. And that’s not me fishing for compliments, believe it or not. I know I’m a novice poet and no number of competition successes or published poems changes that fact. I think whether I make it beyond the novice stage is entirely a matter of time and graft. But I’m learning to be patient!

During the day I even got rid of a number of pamphlets – I won’t say ‘sold’ as I left a pile on the freebies table and… well you can guess what happened!

After all the excitement I had a really lovely time unwinding in the pub with poet friend Lynne – a wise and inspirational person if ever there was one.

Then the reality of the train journey home, carriages packed to the brim with Arsenal fans and people munching smelly food – thankfully I had ‘Gravity’ to watch on my phone, which blotted out all distractions.

(Photos courtesy of Sophie at the Poetry Society)

Angst/

Poetry competitions: ‘do you not know who I think I am?’

Winners & losers roadsign

I laughed out loud at Martin Malone’s editorial in The Interpreter’s House 57 on the subject of poetry competitions.

“What is wrong with us? […] Are we such fragile approval junkies that we need to feel repeatedly validated by our Highly Commended in the East Jokerville 3rd Annual Arts Festival Poetry Competition?” Er, is that a rhetorical question?

He goes on to question what competitions are actually for (“Do they produce some great poetry? Or do they produce great Competition Poetry? Has this notion actually become a poetic sub-genre in itself?”)

Competitions are one of those things that poets are supposed to feel ambiguous about. You know how it is: you shouldn’t appear too bitter if you go in for something and don’t win (the Troubadour winners have already been contacted by the way, and I didn’t get a phone call – PAH!). But then again, if you win something, it doesn’t do to be dismissive in an attempt at modesty (“It’s not as if it were the National!”). And yes, I’m guilty of this – but then a friend pointed out “If you go in for a competition, surely the best possible result is to win?” (ie what the &*$@?* are you moaning about…)

It’s taken me a while but I think I’ve finally learnt my lesson: the best policy is to treat winning in the same way you should treat any compliment – accept it graciously, say thank you but don’t let it go to your head.

Or as Martin says, “A personal rule of thumb with regard to competitions is that they’re all rubbish except the ones I win or do well in. And I’m right: they are all rubbish except those ones. I think I speak for many in the poetry community when I ask the question, ‘Do you not know who you think I am?’ ”  Tee hee!