[Newspoetry] Empire beset by corruption?

[William Gillespie]

...from the 'Books and Bookmen' column of _Private Eye_ July 26, 2002...

POETS CORNERED

The small but perfectly formed world of modern British poetry looks even
smaller following the announcement of the shortlist for the Forward Prize,
Britain's biggest poetry award.

This year's judges include two poets published by Picador (Sean O'Brien
and Michael Donaghy), who have shortlisted two other Picador poets (Peter
Porter and Paul Farley) for the #10,000 top prize. Last year's judging
panel also included two Picador poets--Donaghy (again) and Peter Porter.

Last year Porter gave the main prize to Sean O'Brien. What's the betting
O'Brien won't now give it back to his mentor, enabling both friends to
pocket ten grand? Or will their protegi Paul Farley be the one to take the
loot this time around?

Last year the #5,000 prize for "best first collection" went to another
Picador poet, John Stammers (a product of Donaghy's poetry workshops), and
the #1,000 "best single poem" prize was given to Ian Duhig for a poem--you
guessed it--from his forthcoming Picador collection. The same poem earlier
won Duhig the #5,000 top prize in the Poetry Society's national poetry
competition, judged by a three-man panel including his mate Don Paterson,
the foul-mouthed Scottish bard who also happens to be the poetry editor
at, er, Picador.

This year's five-poet Forward shortlist includes two other chums, David
Harsent and John Fuller (winner of the Forward prize in 1996, when one of
the judges was again Sean O'Brien). And Sean O'Brazen was one of three
judges of the 1997 T. S. Eliot prize (worth #5,000), which was awarded
to...his own editor, Don Paterson.

Duhig, Donaghy, O'Brien, Harsent and Paterson all have the same agent,
TriplePa, aka Gerry Wardle--who just happens to be Sean O'Brien's partner.
And Donaghy, Duhig, Farley, Fuller, Harsent, Paterson and Porter have all
received fulsome write-ups from the _Sunday Times's_ main poetry critic,
one Sean O'Brien.

Those outside the charmed circle may wonder if there are any poets worth
honouring who don't happen to be Picador authors, friends of O'Brien or
clients of his missus. (Are there, for example, some meritorious women?
Apparently not, to judge by the omission of Alice Oswald, Carol Ann Duffy,
Helen Dunmore and Selima Hill from the Forward list.) Until the Forward
organizers desist from asking O'Brazen and his cronies to judge their
prize, we may never know.