Editorial
Poems: Fred Johnston, Gary Allen, Donna Pucciani, Lucinda Carey, Doris Corti, Shanta Acharya,
Keith McFarlane, Wynn Wheldon, Cosima Gillhammer, Roger Harvey, Marc Woodward, Edmund Prestwich.
Responses (i)
Poems: Jacob Lotinga, Bibhu Padhi, Wong Wei Cong, Jill Boucher, John Arnold, Qudsia Akhtar, Nigel Kent.
Poetry in Translation ‒Pengbo Wang (Li Xie), SerhiyZhadan (Alan Zhukovski), Else Lasker-Schüler
(Christine McNeill).
Poems: David Perman, Michael Jennings, Michael Swan, Mike Smith, Nick Grundy.
They Came, They Saw, and They Left– William Oxley.
Poems: Briege Duffaud, Ilse Pedler, Fred Johnston, Caroline Carver, Richard O’Connell, Tim Taylor,
Yoav J. Tenembaum.
Responses (ii)
Poems: Frances Galleymore, Ian Royce Chamberlain, Briege Duffaud, Heather Deckner, Patrick Osada.
Three Solos and Four Quartets ‒June Hall.
Poems: Duncan Forbes, Janet Cameron, Peter Ebsworth, Chris Waters, Christine Griffin.
Obituary – Dr James Hogg.
The Cricketer & Football Rhymester – Andrew Hunt.
Poems: Peter Branson, Colin Pink, Tim Taylor, Mike Jenkins, Michael Swan, Wendy Klein.
Reviews: William Oxley, Fred Beake, Parvin Loloi, Wendy French, Edmund Prestwich, Leah Fritz,
Malcolm Bradley, Nigel Jarrett.
Poetry Comment: Glyn Pursglove.
Current Editorial:
Acumen 93, and I was moved to look back at the first issue, more
specifically at the editorial for that first issue, to see if I had stuck to what
I wanted to publish or had altered my opinons or poetic tastes. Or, even
more probably, my opinions and tastes had been altered by getting on for
forty years of reading contemporary poetry.
Reading it now, it seems very pretentious; especially the self-referential
bit culled from the dictionary definition (OED of course!):
‘sharpness of wit, penetration of perception, keenness of discrimination’.
I followed this up by saying Acumenwas going to be a magazine for
good literature, catholic in its outlook and approach – yet catholic not
in the sense that ‘anything goes’. Which, despite many long words,
meant I was going to be choosy about what I published.
Yet, despite all the rhetoric I used, I think this is what has happened.
I’ve never gone in for promoting ‘specialised schools’, tried not to
publish mannered articles and hope that I have published well-
crafted poems. I remember rather haughtily saying that I didn’t
publish humorous poems and actually turned one or two poems
away which I now wish I’d grabbed with both hands. It was
Duncan Forbes who saved me further embarrassment with his
brilliant poem ‘Moggie Thatcher’ which is still a favourite thirty
years later for audiences at poetry readings.
I still agree when I wrote that posterity has shown us the standards
by which we must judge: not in the sense that we don’t move on or
all write like the Romantics or the Victorians. But if a poem has been
around for a few hundred years it must have something which
warrents its inclusion in modern anthologies and it is well worth
while in looking out what it is whether it be good word play, good
sense, imaginative imagery, music or has that certain celebratory sense
which good poems have, despite any dark subject matter. A good
poem talks to its reader /listener. I hope you find one or two poems
in this issue which talk to you.
