The Poetry Premiership

So, is Jo Shapcott Fulham in disguise. If you see what I mean.

With apologies for the infantile preoccupation with list-making, which I do realize isn't the point, I have been wondering for a while which twenty living British poets would constitute the Poetry Premiership.

There will be some who would be disappointed not to be considered a part of it and legions of supporters of others who would claim their heroine or hero is deserving of a place. Well, what I've tried to do here is judge their standing in critical and public esteem as well as lifetime achievement and not pick my own top 20. I'd be delighted to hear suggestions from anyone for amendments but however many names you suggest for inclusion, I do ask that you nominate the same number to be removed from my list.

I might have missed someone completely but this does come from a long list of about 70. They are in some approximation of league positions and so I'd expect more debate about the lower half of the table rather than the top few who, I imagine, are firmly established as Premiership in status.

Do let me know. I am looking for some sort of consensus rather than a controversial blood-letting.

There is a semi-scientific way of working it out without counting prizes, book sales and column inches of coverage in magazines and journals. At any poetry reading, one can usually tell that the biggest name comes on last. We all implicitly sort of know that. It isn't quite headliner plus support acts but it does usually amount to the biggest reputation being the climax of the event with the other names in descending order from there.

One often sees a poet, artist, musician or suchlike described as 'one of the leading' exponents of their art. But this is easy and lazy praise to attribute to anyone unless we know who else is also in the elite group and, more importantly sometimes, who isn't. So, let's see. We can only have twenty. Let me know who else should be in and thus also who left out.

Seamus Heaney

Paul Muldoon

Geoffrey Hill

Tony Harrison

Don Paterson

Sean O'Brien

James Fenton

Derek Mahon

Simon Armitage

David Harsent

Colette Bryce

John Burnside

Carol Ann Duffy

Lachlan MacKinnon

Alice Oswald

Jo Shapcott

Ian Duhig

Roddy Lumsden

Andrew Motion

Michael Longley

And I am aware I've left out Douglas Dunn, Glyn Maxwell, Ruth Padel, Craig Raine, Anne Stevenson, Paul Durcan, Robin Robertson, Ciaran Carson, Kathleen Jamie and many more, which can only show what a competitive league the Championship is these days.

Please let me know your thoughts.