The 9th* in the series. A new poem by Roddy Lumsden, with some excellent picks from a younger generation of poets, based on the Foreman of proceedings - a high school head coach doggedly concerned with authority and formal proceedure.
Plus illustration from Sergio Membrillas and Craig Matchett.
As we expected, Roddy has done a fantastic job in introducing us to three emgerging voices. Here's what he has to say about his picks...
"I've been reading a lot of work by younger poets recently, as I'm
currently co-editing an anthology of young poets for Salt, which will
appear next summer. The word 'young' has a malleable existence in the
world of poetry. Not long ago I heard a certain poet described as 'one
of our best younger poets'. The poet in question is in her mid 50s.
There is a myth that poets don't get started until they are 30 or so.
That may be the case with publishing full collections but poets who
start in their teen or student years often have a batch of fine poems by
the time they hit their mid 20s. And mid 20s is the cut-off age for
poets in this anthology. It's vital to give exposure to these writers at
a time when the average age of poets published by the better known
presses has slid upward to a point where more than 90% of their poets
are middle-aged or older -
thirty-something poets are not much less rare than twenty-somethings.
I
looked through the submissions for poems which fitted in with the theme
of 'character' and chose these three poems. I notice now that they all
have subtle and clever musicality driving them: Colette's elegant and
mysterious unrhymed sonnet, Miranda's direct sketch, pinned by formality
and rhymes, and Kayo's shapeshifting piece (written for Sidekick Books'
forthcoming second Coin Opera collection of poems based on video games)
with its mock-heroic tone and subtle rhyming."
*Erm... You may have noticed that we're only on Issue 9 of the 12 Angry Zines and we should be on 12. But do not fret! It's just that we've been mucking about too much at the watercooler. Next issue is Ross Sutherland. Something to look forward to when all your other presents have been opened!