I have
been editing Shearsman and
Shearsman Books since 1981. Apart from Shearsman, I have edited
the anthology A
State of Independence for Stride,
and Roy Fisher's Interviews
Though Time (Shearsman Books, 2000).
I was also co-editor of the poetry selection in Chicago Review's
special double issue
New Writing in German (published in
the summer of 2002), and have been an occasional translator of contemporary
German poets — most recently
Sabine Scho, Anja Utler, Lutz Seiler, Achim Wagner and Daniel Falb.
Giramondo Publishing, Sydney, published a collection of my translations
of Lutz Seiler in May 2005
as In the year one – Selected
Poems (copies of which may be ordered
in the UK from Shearsman Books — the cover
is shown below left). I was interviewed in January
2006 by Tim Allen for The Argotist, so go here if
you'd like to learn more than is shown on this page. And if you're
a glutton for punishment, I now have a blog, away fro this site, here,
but it is somewhat intermittent.
Born in England in 1951, I studied Art History at the University of Essex
but continued to follow an interest in poetry while a student. I gave up
writing poetry in the early 1970s after it became obvious that I had nothing
to say that had not been said better a thousand times before by far more
competent writers. From 1974 I followed an international business career
that was to continue until 1999, but also revived my interest in poetry during
that time, becoming co-editor of the Hong Kong-based little-magazine Imprint in 1979. This magazine, co-edited with Terry Boyce and Hélène
Li, published four issues before folding in 1981. Shearsman was then founded
as a solo venture, starting with the unused manuscripts left over from the
Imprint project, with everything being typed on an IBM Selectric typewriter
and printed on a Gestetner machine. The magazine was in a vertical A4 format
and, at its largest, ran to 100 pages. For a list of all writers published
by Shearsman in its first series, please click here.
In its early days Shearsman also benefitted from the assistance of three contributing editors: Carol
Bergé in New York, Michael Bullock in Vancouver, and John Levy in
Tucson.
That first series of Shearsman consisted
of six journal issues (most of the contents of which are now available
in digitised form at the UK's Poetry Library magazine website), and
two issues which were chapbook collections (issue 4: Martin Anderson,
Philip Crick, Gustaf Sobin & Nathaniel
Tarn; issue 8: two by David Jaffin), and was edited — with some difficulty — from
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I was then working. A move from Malaysia
to the Middle East then rendered further publication impossible, leading
to the magazine ceasing publication after the eighth issue and being
merged into a new London-based venture called Ninth Decade (subsequently Tenth
Decade).
Ninth Decade was co-edited with Robert Vas Dias, formerly editor
of Atlantic
Review and Permanent Press, and the late Ian Robinson, editor
of Oasis and Oasis
Books, both of whom had also reached a point in the development of
their respective journals that rendered continued publication difficult. Ninth
/ Tenth Decade continued until 1991 and then folded, after having published
fourteen issues. The eleventh issue, shown left, had a cover design
by Ian Robinson. For a list of all writers published by Ninth
Decade & Tenth
Decade, please click here.
In 1991, Oasis and Shearsman were
revived by Ian Robinson and myself, respectively, and in similar A5
formats. Shearsman's format was in fact copied from the successful
one initiated by Oasis, with size driven by the weight for postage – as
usual, a significant cost factor for a little magazine. Production
by now was being achieved through computer-based DTP. From 1991 to
2005 Shearsman published
62 issues in a resolutely minimalist, low-cost format. A list of all
the writers who appeared in the first 50 issues of this second series
of the magazine may be had by clicking here.
The first ten issues of this new series of the magazine are also available
in digitised form at the UK Poetry Library, and recent issues may be
seen elsewhere on this site. With effect from the double issue 63/64
(the summer 2005 issue), the magazine changed to a book-sized format,
running up to 108 pages in length, and appearing twice yearly in April
and October. Some (but not all) of the contents of these book-length
issues also appears on this website.
In terms of the magazine's position with
regard to contemporary poetry, there is a clear inclination towards
the more exploratory end of the current spectrum. Notwithstanding this, however,
quality work of a more conservative kind will always be considered seriously,
provided that the work is well-written. What I do not like at all is sloppy
writing of any kind; I always look for some rigour in the work, though I
will be more forgiving of failure in this regard if the writer is trying
to push out the boundaries. I tend to like mixing work from both ends of
the spectrum in the magazine, and firmly believe that good writing can, and
should, cohabit with other forms of good writing, regardless of the aesthetic
that drives it.
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