A Year of New Anthologies

2019 has been a good year for new anthologies, and I am very grateful to all the editors who have selected my work to appear in their book. I have edited several anthologies myself, and I am well aware of how much work goes into them, and how time-consuming they are, from the exciting part of selection, to all the painstaking work with permissions, proof-reading, working with publishers and arranging launches.

Anthologies have changed during my writing career. At one time, they were only for the few and the famous, and were there to mark a particular fashion or press. Then Bloodaxe started their wonderful themed anthologies which are owned by anyone with a serious interest in poetry. Then there were those wonderful children’s anthologies put out by Macmillan, OUP, Wayland and others, which encouraged so many of us to write for our inner child, and which have all but dried up, though a few still happen and maybe they will start multiplying again soon.  These days anthologies have really diversified, as you will see when I write about each individual one I’ve been lucky enough to be in.  Awareness-raising, charity, special occasions and tragedies, have all spawned anthologies recently, and many competitions produce an anthology of their winners and shortlisted poems. It’s all reaching out and making poetry more accessible for a wider audience.

 

I hope people will be interested to follow the posts, and I will be sharing mini-reviews and letting you know where you can buy a copy of each anthology, to support the cause and the press. I will also be sharing my adventures as I went on journeys with some of these lovely books.

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