The Burning Bush 8, (ed Michael S Begnal, 3 Newcastle Road, Galway, Ireland. Autumn 2002 issue, 64pp, centre-stapled, €4. ISSN 1393-8312. Subscriptions €8 for 2 issues (UK & Ireland) €15 (elsewhere).)

A lively magazine, and from a younger generation (thank goodness), the BB tries manfully to strike out into more avant-garde / innovative territory than is the norm in Ireland and succeeds at least some of the time in its strenuous task. Worthwhile.

Fire 18 (ed. Jeremy Hilton, Field Cottage, Old White Hill, Tackley, Kidlington, Oxfordshire OX5 3AB. ISSN 1367-031X. Pb, 187pp, £4. Subscriptions £7 for 3 issues.)

Overseas subscribers need to add something for postage costs; given the size of this publication, I'd suggest adding about 75% to the cost.) Fire is something of a throwback. Jeremy Hilton welcomes all comers, regardless of poetic style, and seems to produce the magazine on an electric typewriter. At a guess, I'd say it's hand-bound as well (glued spine and binding tape – a system I used once myself), and probably by the overworked editor. The issue is bewildering, and, as you might expect contains some real gems, some real dross and not a few pleasant surprises. It's the sort of magazine that just about all good up-and-coming poets (& more than a few already arrived) publish in at least once.

Fulcrum 1, 2002. (ISSN 1534-7877 ed. Katia Kapovich & Philip Nikolayev, 334 Harvard Street, Suite D-2, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. US subs $12 per issue, foreign $17. Cheques / money orders payable to ‘Fulcrum Annual'.)

It's hard to judge how this is going to develop, but the first issue is well worth getting, being a map of English-language poetry from around the planet. The issue starts very strongly with David Kennedy's perceptive and even-handed analysis of the British scene (including, ahem, a nice comment about Shearsman), and has further gems from Ken Bolton on Australia, August Kleinzahler on the USA, Alan Loney on New Zealand and Fred D'Aguiar on the Caribbean. Sheenagh Pugh's take on Wales is more interesting than I thought it would be, though she's mistaken her audience here I think. Roddy Lumsden's analysis of the Scottish scene does what it can in the space of little more than three pages, but I can't agree with Don Paterson's elevation to the status of "best younger poet in UK / Ireland today".
     Randolph Healy's overview of Ireland is marred by an over-concentration on the particular at the expense of the scene as a whole, and an emphasis on the problem of the admittedly skewed literary funding in Ireland. As with the case of the Welsh overview, I'm not sure what a US audience will make of it as an introduction to the situation of poetry in Ireland today. There are additional essays by Marjorie Perloff (interesting, as ever), Paul Muldoon (better than I expected) as well as surveys of Indian English poetry and Singaporean poetry: strange locales where modernism didn't happen, and where the English language struggles as a literary vehicle against several other strong traditions (though Singapore has in fact long been thought of, with some justification, as the most uncultured of cities). There's poetry here too from Pam Brown, August Kleinzahler, Gregory O'Brien, W N Herbert, Allen Fisher, Paul Muldoon and many others, mostly worth the reader's attention.

Modern Poetry in Translation 20, Russian Women Poets (Guest ed. Valentina Polukhina. Ed. Daniel Weissbort. MPT, School of Humanities, King's College London, University of London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS. ISSN 0969-3572. ISBN 0-9533824-8-6. 2002, 303pp, pb. Subscription rates (2 issues): £22 UK / Europe; £26 / $40 elsewhere. Cheques payable to King's College London).

I've subscribed to this journal since it recommenced regular publication and it remains a thoroughly worthwhile enterprise, albeit with the occasional hiccup – but then we all get those. This one is a treasure-trove, though for once I'd have liked to have at least some of the original poems printed – this because Russian poetry is usually metrically and rhythmically complex, and it would have been nice to know how much had been abandoned by the translators. Still, there are only 300 pages available and a vast number of poets are represented. For that reason, the issue has to be made welcome. There is always the problem that Russian poetry seems to resist translation – partly because of the formal techniques used in the originals – but this compendium is a brave attempt to open a window onto the mysterious world of Russian verse:- over 70 poets, of whom no more than half a dozen were names to me beforehand. Translators include Weissbort, of course, and many other well-known Russianists and poets. Angela Livingstone, who once bravely tried to teach me Russian Literature, is listed on the cover as a participant, but does not appear on the contents pages. MPT remains a magazine that one should respect and read for its unswerving commitment to a belief in the fact that poetry can and should be translated, inevitable problems notwithstanding. Issue 19 has gone missing until now, incidentally, and will actually appear after 20 but before 21. The reason? It's a special issue devoted to Iraqi poetry. Now that wouldn't upset anyone, would it?

Oasis 106 (August 2002, 32pp, ed. Ian Robinson, 12 Stevenage Road, London SW6 6ES. Subscriptions: UK, 4 issues £6, 8 issues £12; Single copies £2.50 / $5. All offshore subscriptions 4 issues $30 / £22. $ cheques payable to Robert vas Dias, sterling cheques to Oasis Books).

Another fine issue from the indefatigable Oasis. Poems here from Lee Harwood, Simon Smith, Kelvin Corcoran, John Ash, Roselle Angwin; prose (-poetry?) by Robert Sheppard, prose poems by Andrea Moorhead. Plus (and see my comments in the last-but-one Shearsman) a riposte from August Kleinzahler to the Yann Lovelock review of Christopher Middleton's excellent Word Pavilion. Kleinzahler has already charged to Middleton's defence on one occasion (in the TLS, after a really stupid review of the same book by Peter Reading), and the riposte printed here is almost intemperate, but it's fun. The shackles have been cast off and he's let rip. And he's right. For the record, I defend the original reviewer's right to criticise, but it's a shame that an otherwise able and intelligent reviewer got it so desperately, and embarrassingly wrong.

Oasis 107 (November, 2002, details as for N† 106).

A superb issue: there's excellent work here by Charles Hadfield, Gabriel Levin, Ralph Hawkins, Martin Anderson, Simon Perchik and Swedish poet, Per Wästberg, in Anne Born's translation. Quite frankly, anyone who reads Shearsman ought to read Oasis.

Osiris 54, June 2002 (ISSN 0095-019X. 48pp, perfect-bound. Biannual magazine published June / December. Ed. Andrea Moorhead. P O Box 297, Old Deerfield, Mass. 01342, USA. Subscriptions to issues 54 & 55 $15, €18.)

Osiris is something of an oddity: a resolutely international and multilingual American poetry magazine. In addition many Shearsman contributors fetch up within its pages (such as Simon Perchik, Robert Marteau, Charles Hadfield, Ian Robinson). What it isn't, is predictable, which is I suppose a good thing. French poetry always appears in the original, which I like to see (though I do wonder what readers with no French might think), and other languages tend to be translated (here Danish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese - the original poems also appear). To confuse the issue however, the Italian poet Flavio Ermini appears here in French translation as well as in Italian, and his biographical note in the back is in Italian only - the meaning of which I'm able to figure out via Latin, French and Spanish, but not every reader will be in this position. Fine production values, good design work by the editor's husband, but on the whole it's a little short on content: I guess it could do with being twice the size and having a little more introductory matter on the non-Anglophone poets being printed. Worth a look, though.

The Paper 5, Elegies, Epithalamia, Etc – Occasions of Poetry (October 2002. ISSN 1474-8037; ed. David Kennedy, 29 Vickers Road, Firth Park, Sheffield S5 6UY. 64pp, centre-stapled, £5 / $10, 1-year sub covering issues 5 & 6: £8. Cheques, money orders to D G Kennedy.)

A very stimulating issue indeed. Good new work by Elizabeth James, Jennifer Moxley & Tony Baker, among others; essays by Andrea Brady on Kevin Nolan, John Hall on 'Elegy', Peter Middleton on '3 Contemporary Elegists' (i.e. Antin, Notley & Caddel). The Paper is a serious journal that threatens to become a regular feature on the scene, and I hope it does. Like The Gig (published in Canada, but largely concerned with UK poetry) it provides a forum for serious comment on the more innovative end of the contemporary UK poetry scene which has long been lacking. It deserves support, and serious attention. The free insert with this issue, by Christine Kennedy, is also very welcome.

P N Review 147 (Sept / Oct 2002).

I don't usually review this journal, even though I do usually enjoy it. This one demands attention, however. First Michael Schmidt rips into the reputation of the late Ian Hamilton, a limited critic and even more limited poet, who for far too long persuaded various funding bodies to finance his reduced vision of the poetry world, much to the detriment of English letters in general (and I mean English, not British, here: I don't think Hamilton was aware that there were three other parts of the UK). He follows this with another attack on Sean O'Brien, the second this year on the PNR editorial page. It makes good reading. The centrepiece of the issue is however a tribute to F T Prince, a very fine and under-appreciated poet who recently turned 90. Excellent contributions here from Anthony Rudolf, Geoffrey Hill, John Ashbery, Anthony Howell and John Hall. Then there's prose by Christopher Middleton and good poems by R F Langley and Robert Minhinnick, as well as a good review of the recent Oppen and Niedecker revised Collecteds. Stimulating stuff.

Poetry Ireland Review 73 (Summer 2002. Ed. Michael Smith, Bermingham Tower, Dublin Castle, Dublin 2, Ireland. ISSN 0332-2998, ISBN 1-902121-11-2.157pp, pb, €7.99).
Email: management@poetryireland.ie

I'd seen only a couple of issues of PIR prior to this issue, for which Michael Smith has come on board as editor for the first time. Based on this first attempt, I hope he stays. Now I might be held to be biased, given that I contributed a short piece to the issue, but it's the rest of the book that I like: a 70-odd page anthology of contemporary Argentine poetry; poems by Anthony Cronin, Seamus Heaney, David Lloyd, Randolph Healy, Maurice Scully and Fanny Howe (among others); some interesting reviews and articles. Good stuff, but nowhere does it say how you can subscribe or for how much, or if you can do so from outside Ireland. I assume you can, but you'll have to email them to find out.

Poetry Review Vol. 92 No. 3 Autumn 2002 (eds. David Herd & Robert Potts) 120pp, perfect-bound, £6.95. Subs £30 for 4 issues, £40 ex-UK & USA $56.

The new-look PR still seems be more welcoming and comfortable than its previous incarnation, but it's hard yet to get a sense of any overall position. Perhaps that will come with time. I like the fact that all-comers are included, ‘innovative' or ‘mainstream' (choose your own appropriate adjectives to suit: you know what I mean here), which I feel is a necessity for a magazine that is the organ of the UK's Poetry Society. It has to be reflective of all areas of poetic activity, though I imagine that some of the contributors will feel uncomfortable by the company they find themselves keeping. Michael Hamburger, Philip Gross, Robert Crawford & Medbh McGuckian feature here alongside Keston Sutherland and Susan Wheeler. Good reviews, by and large: Andrea Brady on Niedecker, a Potts essay on O'Hara, Stephen Burt a bit off the mark on John James' new Collected (though it's good to see James reviewed in PR, and positively), Linda Kinnahan on Denise Riley, Julia Lovell on post-Mao Chinese poetry. It's a good read, basically, worth your time, and it's been a long time since one could say this of Poetry Review. Some of it is available online here.

Tears in the Fence 32 (Summer 2002. ISSN 0266-5816, ed. David Caddy, 38 Hod View, Stourpaine, Blandford Forum, Dorset DT11 8TN. 128pp, perfect-bound, £6, $7 ($ cash only). Subscriptions £15 for 3 issues, $20 cash ($25 airmail). Rest of the world £20 / €30 surface, £23, €35 airmail).

Smart production, and more of what you might expect if you've seen previous issues. Enjoyable enough, with a good review section.

Tenth Muse 12 (2002. ISSN 0959-2334, ed. Andrew Jordan, 33 Hartington Road, Southampton SO14 0EW. 64pp, centre-stapled, £3/$10 cash. Subs £6 for two. Cheques payable to 10th Muse.)

The best issue of this magazine in some time, which consists about half of poetry and about half of reviews and comment. Poetry by Caddel, Duncan, Etter, Sneyd, Taylor, among others. Well worth keeping up with. The magazine seems to appear when there's enough to fill it (or the funds are available?), but your money's well spent on a subscription here.

Tremblestone 3 (December 2002. ISSN 1463-9181. Ed. Kenny Knight, Corporation Buildings, 10.F How Street, The Barbican, Plymouth PL4 0DB. 96pp, perfect-bound, £4. Subscriptions £10 for 3 issues, £18 for 6. Subscriptions ex-UK: £15 for 3 issues, £25 for 6.)

This third issue of Tremblestone shows a significant improvement over the previous two, both in design and in content, and I hope this indicates that the magazine is settling in for the long haul. While many of the contributors are still south-westerners, there is now a leavening of good material from elsewhere such as a group of poems by Shearsman-regular Martin Anderson and a long poem by Welsh poet Huw Knoyle. The latter doesn't succeed in its entirety but it's certainly an interesting tilt at a longer poem by a (young?) writer with a good command of his resources, linguistic and otherwise. Apart from these there's good material by Devon-based poets Jason Hirons, Philip Kuhn, Tim Allen and Norman Jope. To be honest there's hardly a dud in here, and I hope the magazine will continue to flourish.