Acumen Poetry

HELLO

WELCOME TO ACUMEN'S WEBSITE

acumen 61 new out

Interview with Ian Caws.
NOT SO MUCH LOST AS BOGGED DOWN,
Ideas on the art of translation.
Poems from new and old friends.
A memoir of JACK CLEMO
Reviews and Comments.

ALL AT THE USUAL PRICE.

Now ACUMEN 61 has been despatched, work is continuing on the next Poetry Festival.

ALL THE LATEST ON THE FESTIVAL BY PRESSING THE EVENTS BUTTON.
Meanwhile, why not enter the Open Competition: see Events

ABOUT THE MAGAZINE:

acumen places an emphasis on publishing a wide range of poetry both in style and in its poets. Work is considered from both established and talented newcomers, on an equal basis. It publishes around 50 poems per issue (out of around 3,000 submitted in each four-month period) as well as reviews, poetry comment, and reader feedback. The critical articles aim to be well written and readable and which, we hope, will set the reader thinking and promote discussion within the correspondence columns of the magazine. Letters to acumen are always welcome.

'For more than 20 years Acumen has served as a forum for poetry and writing about poetry.' -- The Guardian.

'A strong and distinctive literary taste filtered through the actual choice of poems,' -- Poetry Review.

'the format of a glossy, the open-mindedness of an independent publication,
and the sheer joy of a poetry-loving editor' -- Michael Newman

acumen is published three times a year (January, May and September), A5 perfect bound, with at least 120pp per issue.

To find out more about the editors, their books and their readings, press side-button About Us.

To see what acumen is currently supporting, press Events. The Torbay Poetry Festival now has entries on this part of the site.

Subscribe to the magazine on-line at Subscriptions.

To submit poems without exasperating editors read the guidelines on Submissions. Please do not send e-mail submissions without prior agreement.

Poem of the Week. New from acumen 61.

acumen 61 is NOW OUT!

PLEASE send all books for review to the Reviews Editor at Swansea.

ACUMEN OCCASIONAL PAMPHLETS

These pamphlets constitute an introduction to a
more substantial body of work by poets whose
poems have regularly appeared in the magazine
but have not yet had a complete collection.

WHITE NOISE
Roy Davids
&
TURNING AWAY
Keith McFarlane

Both pamphlets are produced to a high standard
with a full colour cover
by respected artists.
Price: Ł3.50 each
or
Ł6.00 for both.

To obtain copies of these limited edition publications,
please send order and cheque (payable to Acumen) to editorial address
or use paypal in 'subscriptions'.

CONTENTS acumen 61

Editorial
Poems: William Danes-Volkov, Ian Caws, Jonathan Steffen, Rose Flint, Rebecca Gethin,
Kathleen Kummer, June Hall, Maggie Butt, S.N. Devereux, Jim C. Wilson, Kornell Kossuth,
Fiona Moore, Helen Overell, William Bedford, Geoffrey Godbert, Roy Cameron.

Interview with Ian Caws

Poems: Terry Quinn, Janice D. Soderling, Kathryn Jacobs, Jonathan Atrill, Jeremy Page, Joel Lane.

The Art of Translation – Fred Beake.

Poetry in Translation: by Mann Domini, Stephen Capus, Christopher Pilling, Michel Francois & R. Freidman.

Translating Toon Tellegen – Keith McFarlane.

Poems: Patrick Osada, Andrew Frolish, Jonathan Attrill, Michael Newman, Thomas Land, Peter Dale,
Geoffrey Godbert, Ted Harriott, Caroline Price, Christopher J.P. Smith.

A Visit to Jack Clemo – Andrew C. Symons.

Poems: Sean Elliott, Jocelyne Thébault, A.A. Marcoff, Michael Jennings, Shanta Acharya, Tony Turner,
Stephen Capus,Rose Flint, India Russell.

Responses

Poems: Helen Mort, James Wood, Sally Douglas, Michael Swan, Gill McEvoy, Maggie Butt, Thomas Land.

Reviews: WilliamBedford, C.J.P. Smith, William Oxley, Parvin Loloi, William Oxley, William Bedford,
Fred Beake, John Horder.

Poetry Comment

Back Page

POETRY COMPETITIONS:

The competition which started the debate in the magazine, the Bridport, now admits to using filters but still refuses to name them, despite being asked by various persons.

However, acumen has been contacted by the organiser who has just seen the above, written two months ago and believed to be true at that point. She states:

'As an organisation, we are committed to transparency in all that we do. I have not previously been asked the question directly who our filter judges are. Our final filter judges are Jon Wyatt for short stories and Candy Neubert for poems, we have not hidden this information. There are several more readers who do the initial sifting. It would be unfair to list them - already our filter judges are given a difficult time by some writers. This is why we do not give out names on general enquiries.'

I am confident that our judging system is fair and professional.

If you have further questions to ask about the prize, please contact me. frances@poorton.demon.co.uk '

The following competitions have judges who read all the entries or which state truthfully how the winners are chosen (and by whom):

TROUBADOUR POETRY PRIZE

TORBAY OPEN POETRY COMPETITION

PETERLOO COMPETITION

WARE POETRY OPEN COMPETITION

VER POETS OPEN COMPETITION

FROGMORE PRIZE

YORKSHIRE OPEN POETRY COMPETITION

KENT and SUSSEX POETRY SOCIETY COMPETITION

LEDBURY POETRY COMPETITION

JOSHUA FOUNDATION POETRY COMPETITION

Check details on their websites for current information.

Blinking Eye and Poetry Business filter in house, the Poetry Business sending only 20 to the external judge out of 500/700 entries.

Acumen Magazine is supported by the Arts Council of England (South West).

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