NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

Don't be fooled by the frivolous bouncy spring lamb on the cover of Acumen #55. Impeccably and judiciously edited by Patricia Oxley, Acumen stands alongside magazines like Ambit, Orbis, Envoi and Smith's Knoll in setting standards for poetry magazines published in the British Isles.

Perfectly bound, set in laminated covers and printed on good quality paper, it continues to offer exceptional value for money. With Patricia's interesting mix of accessible new poetry, poetry related prose and detailed reviews, it is unsurprising that this magazine's band of loyal supporters continues to grow. Patricia Oxley claims to receive over 3,000 poems for each edition of the magazine. With room for only about 50 poems, competition for publication in Acumen is fierce. However, she manages to maintain a fine balance between contributions from new and emerging poets and those of established writers. Featured in this issue is work by Anne Drysdale, Geoffrey Godbert, Danielle Hope, Sheena Pugh and Myra Schneider…amongst others.

Patricia often sets out the poetry by theme. There are moving poems by Danielle Hope, Sam Gardiner and Deirdre Armes Smith charting the decline and death of elderly parents and the following sad aftermath.

Patricia neatly matches or contrasts poems on a range of timeless themes including love, grief, motherhood and place. I particularly enjoyed John Mackay's memories of childhood. He writes of the smells of SATURDAYS:

	Brasso and blustered 
	laundry 
	bacon down the hallway, up the stairs, under 
	my door.

	the week melted 
	into a haze of double chemistry and cross- 
	country. Monday's business still a distance away.

	Each night 
	the desert exhales steam, dead camels sigh 
	and ghosts of fishermen still dive for pearls.

	Hush-mouse with small hours' tread, 
	soft as a sleeper's breath, 
	fetch me, grey patter-paws, 
	one warming dream of her

Further prose articles include the poet William Oxley writing about his reading preferences and influences; also the third in a series of essays by Colin Moss that consider the state of contemporary poetry and aspects of its future development.

The readers' letters section headed RESPONSES, focuses on the way some poetry competitions attract entrants by advertising a famous name as a competition judge — yet fail to mention that unnamed preliminary judges undertake the bulk of the selection.

The magazine concludes with an eighteen page REVIEWS section, covering everything from 12pp pamphlets to the 205 page THE AMERICAN POEMS by Colin Simms, whist visiting, en route, a new translation of Pushkin's THE GYPSIES AND OTHER LOVE POEMS.

In this day and age there is no difficulty in finding poetry to review. The trick (and Acumen seem to have mastered this) is not confined to choosing a range of fresh material to write about, but in creating a team of informed and thoughtful reviewers able to hold the attention and interest of the reader whilst providing balanced reviews. Too many of its rivals appear to employ self-promoting would be critics who are more interested in pushing their own prejudices, than in presenting unbiased appraisals of the work being considered. So, thanks for that, Acumen, and congratulations on yet another stimulating and interesting magazine.

A reader might be a little bemused after reading the editorial of ACUMEN 56. After all, are we not, as readers of such a journal as this, persons who would be familiar with the basic process by which a poet creates a poem: idea/inspiration — then work to tease out the best way to create something worthwhile from that initial spark? Well, of course we are. The editor, quite amusingly, posits almost an apologia for poets who, albeit in jest, might be accused of a vacancy of mind during this initial 'fathoming' — gazing out of windows, wandering aimlessly round one's garden — the list of venues for vacancy is endless. Science, the editor implies, having stuck its plastic-gloved fingers into our creative processes has, once again, come up with technical explanations that attempt to explain the obvious. The editor ends the editorial by encouraging us to continue 'staring our of windows' in order to 'keep the inspiration flowing'. Considering the enormous number of submissions ACUMEN must receive for each quarter's issue, this is perhaps redundant advice (however good humoured).

This quarter's issue is full of good and better than good poetry; ample evidence that that inspiration flows in abundance. Most of the poetry is, mercifully, comprehensible. There is, of course, allusiveness on these pages, or poetry that insists on remaining in the head after a first reading. Michael Cunningham's economical summing up of the human condition is a powerful example — from NO-WORD:

	The place whose meaning I have forgotten
	is also the man, No-word. The obstacle.
	Can I recognise the field he tells me does not exist?
	Cows and sheep look up, stare at me, look away.

	"In life you can be whatever, whoever you choose to be,
	Make what you want of it. It's up to you," says No-word.
	I'm wondering why then he chose to be a complete tosser,

	Women lean from windows
	remembering the gravitas, old dreams
	tucked around their hearts.

	The bride carries her own dream; through
	gaiety and applause, she sees her love,
	how together, they'll focus this day.

	Our enemies are slow
	but lasting: stone grinds down
	blade. But we gave them a run
	back then: God, we did.
	You scheming, scamming our way
	past the puzzled troll-face
	of evil, your eyes
	laughing into mine.

	The market's my saviour; I shall not want.
	It makes me assured of an adequate pension;
	which assuages my socialist guilt.

	It restores my good sense;
	It leads me to abandon my foolish idealism
	For self-interest's sake.

	Yes, though I know the value of shares
	can go down as well as go up  
	I fear no crash;

Acumen is a spine-bound, glossy-coloured, covered independent magazine that oozes professionalism as you remove it from the envelope. And the front cover (with a smart collage of it on the back) has already got its claws in you before you have time to open it and take a look inside.

Nature Poetry: what is it and do we still need it?

There's an informative interview with John Burnside being lucid on the art and craft of poetry; Keith McFarlane on THE MEDIUMSHIP OF HELEN DUNCAN; the Reader's Corner (10) with Dannie Abse's poetry reminiscences; Geoffrey Godbert's lucidity in dealing with THE POET AND BOXER ARTHUR CRAVEN; the Arts for Humanity; Para Limbu of Nepal on the Spiny Babbler poetry journal and a lot more.

Editorially speaking, Patricia Oxley's seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm is unparalleled. For the price, 128 pages of commendable contemporary scholarship without being burdened by academic intellectualism, Acumen is a very worthwhile venture. I'm sure many readers also believe, or will soon discover, that my few words of praise are not over the top rhetoric but a straightforward, unadulterated, sound of applause.

At 120 pages for £4.50, Acumen is undoubtedly good value for money. There is a large selection of poetry spread out around the journal's pages (often in a rather disorienting fashion), much of which is enjoyable and well-written: there are poems from Catherine Smith (who is also interviewed) and Mario Petrucci, for example, both of whom make memorable appearances. Perhaps Petrucci's poem LET US is a little form-driven, but it pulls off some interesting twists:

		— so let me
	speak as an
	adam

	might
	whose moment
	is under a kind god

	who looks on a half-
	made garden
	& come

	eve
	-ning will
	change his mind

	leaking quiet toxins

But this issue is perhaps most interesting in its exploration of theme: "MYTHS: why we still need them" is the journal's subtitle, and inside we see numerous poets reacting to the subject with great insight (and rare clarity). There are also, as usual, a solid number of reviews to be perused, and an enjoyable article from William Oxley about his going to a reading by Auden.

Acumen 58 is, as ever, attractively produced and professionally finished, and there is much here that deserves to be read.