An appreciation of HappenStance Press

Now that Nell, aka Helena Nelson, aka Helen Beaton, founder, publisher and editor at HappenStance Press, has sent out her final newsletter and announced that the press is winding down, I felt this might be a good moment to celebrate its achievements.

HappenStance started out as a poetry pamphlet press in 2005, publishing slim volumes by all sorts of poets, gaining most recognition for the début pamphlets by up-and-coming names. Several significant contemporary poets cut their teeth with HappenStance. People such as Niall Campbell and Will Harris, etc, etc, not only benefited from Nell’s editorial input at an early stage in their development, but they also obtained a calling card from HappenStance, in the shape of their pamphlets, which enabled them to make the step on to bringing out their first full collections with major publishers. All of the above led to the press being awarded the Michael Marks Award in 2010.

Moreover, in editorial terms, Nell ran a system of submissions windows. Poets sent her batches of their work, and she then replied with detailed feedback. Numerous well-known poets might never have been published by her, but her crit of their work still played a huge, invisible role in their development back in the day. Just imagine how many hours she dedicated to this selfless task!

And then there was Sphinx. Sphinx Reviews was a project that ran alongside HappenStance. It specialised in reviews of poetry pamphlets, a format that has long struggled to receive critical attention, and provided an incredible service to poets, publishers and, of course, readers.

By my tedious manual count, a total of 1461 books were reviewed on Sphinx, many of them by more than one person. That’s the equivalent of over 2,000 pamphlets that were received by Nell, repackaged and sent back out to her loyal band of reviewers. 2,000 batches of stamps to be paid for. Countless treks to the post office. 2,000 reviews that were edited by her (often to the huge benefit of the reviewers themselves, whose prose style and critical approach to poetry were often transformed via this process). 2,000 posts that were formatted, uploaded and optimised for search engines.

In later years, HappenStance shifted its focus to full collections. And again, it punched above its weight, garnering a T.S. Eliot shortlisting for Fiona Moore’s The Distal Point, providing opportunities to fine poets whose writing didn’t fit in with the criteria that major publishers employed to select their manuscripts.

And though Nell would probably admit that she was far more comfortable editing poetry than selling it, let’s not forget that HappenStance Press shifted several thousand units over the years, all via an unfunded subscription model with barely any distribution through bricks-and-mortar bookshops. What’s more, it published several volumes that reached out beyond the poetry bubble and found their way to readers via farm shops and wine merchants, etc, finding new readers for the genre.

As for myself, I’m hugely indebted to HappenStance Press and to Nell herself. But that’s another article for another occasion. Of course, Nell herself is battling on, still publishing her own excellent poetry every now and then, still helping poets out on an informal basis, still writing critical articles with a pen like a scalpel. It’s just that HappenStance itself is coming to an end. Time to celebrate and appreciate what it’s meant for so many people, the friendships and connections it formed among poets and readers. Time to recognise that it represents so much of what’s good about the poetry scene in the U.K..

For umpteen reasons, umpteen of us can say ‘Thank you, Nell’!

My editorial for The Madrid Review...

Over 800 poems later, here I am, still in one piece after having read all of them. No sifting here! And no, the process wasn’t an ordeal. Instead, it was enlightening in terms of understanding my own subjective tastes.

As a reader and editor, I’m not wanting to be surprised, a desire I’ve heard several other poetry editors mention over the last few months. In fact, this feels like a worrying trend, driven by their understandable saturation. The consequent problem is that understated, restrained or layered poems are often penalised in the submissions process, and they tend to be among the most interesting ones.

Enough of what I don’t want though. What did make me select the poems that are included in this issue? Well, I’ve been drawn to a sense of line and its inherent tensions, to a concise, precise and fresh use of language (without the need for fireworks unless they play an intrinsic role in the poem’s purpose), to a naturally heightened cadence, to a delving into the universal via the specific, to an emotional awareness of the reader’s role. Not much to ask, I hear you say!

This means that self-expression on the part of the poet wasn’t enough when I was considering submissions. Instead, I believe the poems I’ve chosen are reaching out to us and are always aware of our presence. They invite us into their worlds, before encouraging us to revisit our own worlds in light of theirs. These poems moved me and changed me, which was a privilege. I’m delighted and proud to share them with you today.

Back on The Friday Poem

Some nasty people hacked The Friday Poem's website in April, but they're rebuilding via Substack and have now posted one of my poems for a second time (see here).

This one didn't quite make the cut for my last book. However, several people have said nice things about it on the back of the new reposting of it, which makes me think it might be worth a tweak or two with a view to inclusion in my third collection ms. Time will tell...!

On the cover of The Madrid Review...

I'm the Guest Poetry Editor for Issue 9 of The Madrid Review, and they've very kindly put my name on the cover too...!

Communication

I have the distinct impression that written-page poets and print-based publishers are currently suffering from a growing struggle to reach their readers and customers, having gradually shifted their means of communication from snail mail to email newsletters and then to social media over the past twenty years.

Insta has always been more focused on spoken word, so the poets and publishers in question tended to concentrate their efforts on Facebook and Twitter. The former is now weighed down by ads and reels, meaning that it’s hard for posts to gain traction. Meanwhile, the average age of its users is rising.

And as for the latter, Twitter became the social media of choice for umpteen publishers and poets. Many had huge follower counts, got numerous shares and likes on their posts, and managed to drive much of their online promotional, marketing and sales activity through it. However, Twitter’s change in ownership, name and algorithms has ripped all that asunder. Many people and organisations have given up on X or limited their use of it, while the reach of posts has dropped through the floor.

In this context, a lot of outfits and individuals in the poetry world saw Bluesky as a natural alternative and rushed to open up new accounts there. A few months later, the majority of those accounts have been abandoned. I’d argue that this is because barely anybody stopped to consider that Bluesky works differently from X/Twitter, and your posts will wither and die if you attempt to follow similar communications strategies on both platforms.

Nevertheless, whatever the arguments in favour or against Bluesky might be, the fact remains that the core of U.K. written-page poets and print-based publishers are scarcely using it. But what’s their alternative plan? How do they intend to maintain contact with their readers and customers over the coming years? Given the atomisation of social media platforms, many new titles, launches, reviews, sample poems, etc, seem to be disappearing into the void. As a poetry lover, I find this situation deeply concerning. How can we communicate better?

Readings in 2027...?

I'm currently scheduling readings for 2027 and would be delighted to hear from any lit/book fests in the U.K. that might be able to offer me a slot (see my contact details in my blogger profile).

I've a decent track record, having read to full houses at fests such as StAnza and Poetry in Aldeburgh, and I don't require travel expenses from Spain. Oh, and I promise not to scare off audiences who think poetry's not for them!

Guest Poetry Editor for The Madrid Review

I'm the Guest Poetry Editor for the October issue of The Madrid Review. Subs are open from now till 28/8, and I'd be delighted to read your poems (see the guidelines here).