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Alone in BabelApril 4, 2013

The Poetry Premier League: Season Three (FAQ)

*Disclaimer: Suggesting any of these are ‘frequently-asked questions’ is extremely misleading. In all honesty, I’ve never been asked any of them… 

*Always bear in mind: “I think poets are not served by the existence of another mechanism of ranking, however sweet recognition may sound.” – Louise Glück (Introducing ‘The Best American Poetry’)

Will last year's winner Sean O'Brien come out on top again?

Will last year’s winner Sean O’Brien come out on top again?

So, what is this?

As stated in last year’s intro, this is ‘a work of blatant sub-sanity that will offer little in the way of objective assessment.’ It’s also an attempt to address the mutterings about poetry cliques running the world of British publishing, a reading guide for anyone unfamiliar with contemporary poetry, and a way of satisfying my own urge to find out ‘who’s number one?’ (John Berryman’s question in the hours after Robert Frost’s death).

Where does the data come from?

Over the last few months, I’ve been looking through back issues of three major poetry magazines (Poetry Review, Poetry London, PN Review), yearly ‘best poetry’ round-ups in the national press, annual ‘best of’ anthologies (Salt’s Best British Poetry, The Forward Book of Poetry), and keeping tabs on the prize winners and nominees. Everything has been amalgamated together into one of the world’s most daunting spreadsheets, and I hope the result is a comprehensive overview of British poetry.

How far back does this go?

Because the survey is more comprehensive, I’ve decided to cover a smaller period than before. This year’s Poetry Premier League covers everything from the beginning of 2011 to the end of 2012.

Is this only about British poetry?

Not necessarily. This is a reflection of the poets who are being published in Britain and winning British awards; plenty of magazines are increasing their efforts to find new work from international writers, and awards such as the Forward Prize are (in theory) open to anyone writing in English. In fact, two of last year’s major prizes were won by Americans (Jorie Graham winning the Forward and Sharon Olds winning the TS Eliot Prize).

How are the points assigned?

Here comes the dull bit… The results are weighted so that, for example, becoming Poet Laureate carries a greater value than winning a major award, which in turn carries a greater value than being published in a national paper… and so on. It’s an imperfect system, but I think it’s an improvement on previous years.

For anyone with the tenacity to read to the bottom of the page, here are the complete points values:

PPL Points Values (2011/12)

90: Poet Laureate

80: Won Costa Prize (overall)

75: Won Forward Best Collection

75: Won TS Eliot Prize

70: Won Costa Prize (poetry)

65: Queen’s Gold Medal for poetry

60: Won National Poetry Competition

60: Won Forward Best Poem

40: Won Forward Best First Collection

40: Runner-up in National Poetry Competition

35: Shortlisted Costa Prize (poetry)

35: Shortlisted TS Eliot Prize

35: Shortlisted Forward Best Collection

30: Shortlisted Forward Best Poem

30: Third in National Poetry Competition

25: National press end of year recommendations (Sarah Crown/Adam Newey’s Christmas recommendations in the Guardian; Telegraph’s Books of the Year; the Guardian writer’s Books of the Year)

25: Editor of one of the major magazines (Poetry Review, Poetry London, PN Review)

20: Shortlisted Forward Best First Collection

20: Commended in National Poetry Competition

20: Coverage in The Guardian (reviewed, Saturday poem and/or appeared in video series)

20: Cover poet in Poetry London

15: Reviewed in Poetry Review

15: Commended in Forward Prize (included in Forward anthology)

15: Included in Best British Poetry anthology

10: Published in Poetry Review

10: Reviewed in Poetry London

10: Reviewed in PN Review

5: Published in Poetry London

5: Published in PN Review

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jacob silkstonePoetry Premier LeaguePPL Season 3

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One last love letter...

April 24, 2021

It has taken us some time and patience to come to this decision. TMS would not have seen the success that it did without our readers and the tireless team that ran the magazine for the better part of eight years.

But… all good things must come to an end, especially when we look at the ever-expanding art and literary landscape in Pakistan, the country of the magazine’s birth.

We are amazed and proud of what the next generation of creators are working with, the themes they are featuring, and their inclusivity in the diversity of voices they are publishing. When TMS began, this was the world we envisioned…

Though the magazine has closed and our submissions shuttered, this website will remain open for the foreseeable future as an archive of the great work we published and the astounding collection of diverse voices we were privileged to feature.

If, however, someone is interested in picking up the baton, please email Maryam Piracha, the editor, at maryamp@themissingslate.com.

Farewell, fam! It’s been quite a ride.

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