acumen General Editor:  Patricia Oxley.

Patricia has been involved with the poetry magazine scene since 1972.  Besides editing acumen, she is organiser of the Torbay Festival of Poetry.

Latest Publications:

Editor: Selected Poems of the United Kingdom, Spiny Babbler, Nepal. 2004.

Selected Poets of Europe (With William Oxley), Spiny Babbler, Feb. 2004.

First Sixty:  the Acumen Anthology, Acumen Publications, April 2010.

Reviews Editor: Glyn Pursglove.

Glyn is Reader in English at the University of Swansea. Until recently he edited The Swansea Review. Since student days he has had an involvement with the world of small presses and little magazines. His interests in poetry are wide-ranging - he has published work on Elizabethan and Seventeenth-Century poetry as well as on contemporary poetry, notably that of Peter Russell and Francis Warner. He is very interested in the study of translation, contributing to such volumes as the Oxford History of Literary Translation. He is a regular reviewer of classical and jazz CDs, concerts and opera for the website MusicWeb International. Interested in most sports, wine, Italy ...

Please send books for possible reviews in the magazine to Glyn Pursglove and not to the editorial address.

Advisory Editor: Danielle Hope.

Danielle was born in Lancashire and now lives in London.  She previously edited Zenos, a magazine of British and international poetry.  She has had four books of poetry published and has given many readings both in the UK and abroad.  A prize-winning poet, she was a founder member of the Tempest Poetry Group and a trustee of Survivors Poetry to which she still acts as an advisor.  Danielle was Festival Poet for the 2nd Torbay Weekend Festival of Poetry and is an Honorary Patron of the Festival.

Latest Publications:

City Fox Rockingham Press, 1997.

The Stone Ship   Rockingham Press,  2003.

Giraffe Under a Grey Sky, Rockingham Press, 2009

Consultant Editor:  William Oxley.

William was former reviews editor of acumen, and has published many books of poetry and prose.  He was poet-in-residence for Torbay during the Year of the Artist and has given readings and lectures throughout Britain and on the Continent.  He also believes he is the only British poet to have given a reading in Shangri-la. A study of his poetry, The Romantic Imagination, came out in 2005 from Poetry Salzburg.

WINNER OF THE 2008 TORBAY ARTSBASE AWARD FOR LITERATURE.

Latest Publications:

Reclaiming the Lyre:  New and Selected Poems Rockingham Press, 2001.

Namaste:  Nepal poems, Hearing Eye, Autumn 2004. 

Poems Antibes, Rockingham Press, 2006

Working Backwards: a poet's notebook, Acumen Publications 2008

Sunlight in a Champagne Glass, Rockingham Press, 2009

for examples of his work see: www.poetrypf.co.uk

WHAT HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT THE MAGAZINE:

‘A few poetry magazines contain nothing but poetry. Others, especially the more frequent ones, have articles, reviews and encourage reader participation through letters. Acumen is like PN Review in this respect but more readable.’ Tim Love

‘Over the years, Acumen has established for itself a solid reputation as one of the leading UK literary magazines of the present day.’ Quartos

‘the magazine’s flag: “sharpness of wit, penetration of perception; keenness of discrimination”.’ Tmes Literary Supplement

‘Acumen has carried its critical success into a penetrating and deeply committed format. The independent and determined editing has seen it accumulate a standing which is plainly remarkable.’ Survey of small press magazines

'A beacon of invention in the west, Acumen's guiding light is valued throughout the wider world of letters. Printing the best, and not necessarily the most celebrated, is its policy.' Peter Porter

'Acumen's longevity is down to its editor's clarity of vision and generosity of spirit. It is that rare beast, a genuinely successful and inclusive poetry magazine.' Brian Patten

'Acumen is invaluable for the range of original poems it publishes, for its support of translations and for the seriousness of its reviewing. Its special features and interviews serve the cause of poetry in a way few other magazines manage.' Alan Brownjohn

‘I consider Acumen to be educationally essential.’ Abi Hughes-Edwards. The New Writer

‘Good poetry and thoughtful articles and reviews.’ Sophie Hannah Frogmore Papers

‘Acumen... is well-produced and impressively wide-ranging’. Lawrence Sail, The Poetry Review

‘Acumen mixes poems and prose by celebrated and new writers who have something to say and say it well. It just keeps getting better and better’   Dannie Abse

‘Acumen is a magazine open to any kind of new verse. Its purpose is quality and catholicity.’   Elizabeth Jennings

‘Acumen deserves to be read for its first hand experience of poetry. The work it does is the opposite of academic and therefore valuable.’   Hugo Willliams.