The Frogmore Papers' 100th Issue

The Frogmore Papers is one of my favourite poetry magazines. In fact, it's accompanied me pretty much throughout my poetic life. Looking back through my records before writing this blog post, I noticed I first had a poem in its pages in Issue 57 back in 2001. That was followed by another in Issue 68 (2006), a third in Issue 76 (2010) and two more in Issue 81 (2013).

Jeremy Page, as well as being the journal's founder and long-time editor, is also an excellent poet, so it's a privilege whenever he chooses my work for publication. As a consequence, I'm especially pleased to have a further two poems in the brand-new commemorative 100th issue alongside the likes of Simon Armitage.

You can get hold of a copy for yourself at The Frogmore Press website (see this link), but here's the gorgeous cover by way of a taster...

Terrific review in The Frogmore Papers

Excellent news today: there's a terrific review of The Knives of Villalejo in the new issue (nº90) of The Frogmore Papers. Written by Clare Best, it begins as follows:

"Matthew Stewart’s first full collection has been twenty years in the making, and is the better for it. Things are distilled to their essence. Every word counts..."

In order to read the review in full, alongside new poems by the likes of Abegail Morley and Jonathan Edwards, you can get hold of a copy via the Frogmore website here.

The Frogmore Papers Issue 81

I was very pleased to find a copy of The Frogmore Papers Issue 81 waiting for me on my doorstep when I arrived home yesterday. Not only does it feature a lot of excellent verse from the likes of Abegail Morley and Mike Barlow alongside two of my poems (The Play and The Leftovers), but it also includes a number of brief reviews.

One in particular took my eye: Rachel Playforth on Richie McCaffery's Spinning Plates, in which she writes...

"These poems cry out to be spoken aloud, with their sensual, playful relish in unusual words and phrases.But they are more than just tasty verbal morsels, making elegant leaps from a single image to a greater truth, and expressing deep feeling as well as sensation..."

I can only endorse her words, having savoured McCaffery's pamphlet myself last year. You can still get hold of a copy here.

The Frogmore Papers (again!)

Monday morning brought excellent news in the form of a letter from The Frogmore Papers to let me know they would like to accept some of my work for Issue 81 (March) of the magazine. This journal has previously published my poetry on three occasions, and I never fail to be impressed by its consistently high quality. This, however, will be the first issue in which two of my poems - titled The Play and The Leftovers - will be published at once. I very much look forward to getting hold of a copy!

The Frogmore Papers

2010 sees me back in Spain again after a few weeks in the U.K., where I stocked up on calories and poetry books.

Meanwhile, the new year has also brought its first acceptance, from The Frogmore Papers. This is the third time I've had work in Jeremy Page's excellent magazine and I look forward to seeing my poem in the September 2010 issue. Here's hoping the coming months continue in a similar vein!