More poetry

I've been a fan of Roy Marshall's blog for a while - particularly enjoying the honest, refreshing way he writes about the poetry business and his personal experiences. Take this heartening piece on the submissions minefield, for example, which is both enlightening and encouraging -

http://roymarshall.wordpress.com/profound-thoughts/

I have a pile of rejection slips from various magazines, particularly Smiths Knoll,  in a folder, and I enjoy looking at them, now and then, and reading the perceptive comments the editors made. They were right; I think I sent poems too early, before they were fully realised, and I'm glad now they didn't take them. Even the best poets have been rejected several times, and I think it can be easy, as a young poet, to become disheartened if poems are returned. Perserverance, resilence, reading and honing your craft are all key.

Anyway, I was really pleased to meet Roy at the Poetry Book Fair last week and talk about such matters. I'm delighted to be a featured poet on his blog today, and you can read the post here - and find details of Roy's own work, including his latest collection, The Sun Bathers, which I look forward to reading.

http://roymarshall.wordpress.com/2014/09/11/featured-poet-sarah-westcott/


Finally, the Next Generation Poets 2014 were announced today - billed as 20 exciting voices for the future, following from the last lot in 2004 which included names like Alice Oswald and Jean Sprackland.
It's brilliant to see so many women poets on the list - 12 out of 20 - or 60 per cent - and I was particularly pleased to see Rebecca Goss, Kate Tempest  and Jen Hadfield selected, poets whose work I love.  You can read more here -

http://nextgenerationpoets.com/

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