It's not quite time yet to review the year as there are still things to come but I'm already looking forward to the shortlists for Best Poetry Collection and Best Poem which I usually put here in November before having another look and picking my winners.
The subsidiary awards that have grown up around my very own poetry accolades are Best Event and Best Novel, which again this year are particularly competitive heats. I might add a Best Non-Fiction Book, too, as there is plenty of choice there. But I think I can safely announce my favourite television programme of the year, which was Cilla, with Sheridan Smith - and no disrespect to Cilla- was in some ways better than the real thing.
But not elegible for Best Poetry Collection of the year, and arrived here today, is the Collected Rosemary Tonks, Bedouin of the London Evening. For me, I think, the publishing event of the year, not having been prepared to spend the prohibitive amounts asked for original editions of her books. I dare say there will be things to say about it by next week.
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The Autumn brings many soi-disant 'great publishing events' which is why it would be more sensible to have Autumn all year round, so that the books could be published at more convenient intervals. And it also brings National Poetry Day and this year was one when Portsmouth Poetry Society held an event.
I'm glad to say it all went very well thanks to all those who did their bits to organize it, take part in it and show up to support it. Everybody, absolutely everybody, was great and it was a privilege to be a part of it.
There is a limit to how far these things can go. The room we had was just the right size as it happened. I had hoped it might become standing room only, we would sell out of the booklet and find several prospective new members. But it's poetry, isn't it, and not even 'Performance Poetry' for PPS, really, and so these days, a minority interest. And I doubt if I'd be doing it with quite such enthusiasm if it wasn't 'minority'.
And so, there will be a few copies of Calliope 2014, still available after the second print run. Including p&p, I'd say a fiver would cover it. So e-mail by all means if you would like one before they run out.
I would only express my own self-doubt by wondering why I think it worthwhile to stand in front of an audience to read my poems. Do these good people really want these precious minutes taken from their lives by listening to me. One only hopes that they find it as intersting to see what I do as I do them but it's hard to believe. I like my own work very much but, there again, I would because I am my only target audience. It is a happy accident if anybody else likes it as well. But it is the reward of the entirely amateur pursuit that one does only have to please oneself, not perform at festivals, go on tour or worry about sales (and the kindle edition of Re-read didn't get very high in Amazon's Free Kindle Poetry chart during its 5 days of being feee to download). But why, exactly, I want to perform is more of a mystery than it ever was. Larkin wasn't keen on the idea, either. I will be reviewing that situation.
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And Autumn brings us back to The Saturday Nap, my weekend tip for the discerning horse racing student. Admittedly, it all went wrong last year but we showed a healthy profit in 2012 if you stayed with the programme and stayed in front in 2011. My little foray into racing journalism should be here on Friday evenings, quite often advising a novice hurdler trained by Paul Nicholls, no doubt, but if not, I'll be here by 11 a.m. on Saturday.
I did briefly post a tip for Muthmir on Saturday but the ground went against him and he was withdrawn but it was a great weekend's sport and it's one of the very few sports I could say that of these days. Although the very obvious fact that Chelsea were going to beat Arsenal helped, too.
