The Sabotage Reviews top 10 of (published) poetry this year
-Compiled by Claire Trévien–
Tis the seasons for lists and we don’t like feeling left out. So, as is our custom, here is our top ten most viewed reviews of (published) poetry this year, rendered more difficult by us updating our website this year and having two sets of data to look at.
1. Kim Kardashian’s Mariage by Sam Riviere reviewed by Charles Whalley.
2. Sculpted: Poetry of the North West (ed. L. Holland and A. Topping) reviewed by Laura Seymour
3. i wrote a poem dedicated to god that i considered to be extremely disrespectful by Diane Marie reviewed by Charles Whalley
4. Lune by Sarah Hymas reviewed by Billy Mills
5. Estuary: a Confluence of Art and Poetry (ed. H. Lawler and A. Marton) reviewed by Ananya S. Guha
6. Catechism: Poems for Pussy Riot (ed. by M. Burnhope, S. Crewe, and S. Mayer) reviewed by Harry Giles
7. Rising #58 and Poetry Weekly #1 reviewed by Jennifer Edgecombe
8. Rhyming Thunder (ed. J. Bunting and J. Dean) reviewed by Billy Mills
9. The Son of a Shoemaker by Linda Black reviewed by Billy Mills
10. The Ophelia Letters by Rebecca Tamás and The Burning by Anna Selby reviewed by Paul McMenemy .
As you can see, it’s been a good year for Billy Mills’ reviews! The presence of four anthologies is predictable, but it’s pleasantly surprising to see pamphlets by individual authors (if one counts Sam Riviere’s project as such) making up half of the list. Three out of ten are self-published (possibly more if you count anthologies created independently from a press such as Estuary and Catechism). Magazines only have one place (though it is a review of two for the price of one), which reflects a decline in magazine reviews this year – something I’d like to rectify. What magazines do you think we should give coverage to?
In the meantime, here is My Alternative Top Ten of reviews/publications that should have attracted more views than they did – my small way of redressing the balance. In no particular order:
- Standard Form for Language Resentment by Freke Räihä reviewed by Rosie Breese
- Flying Into the Bear by Chrissy Williams reviewed by Afric McGlinchey
- The Debris Field by Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon, Chris McCabe reviewed by David Clarke
- ctrl+alt+del #5 reviewed by Rosie Breese
- Semblance by Chris Pusateri reviewed by David Clarke
- Astronaut #1 reviewed by Alana Tomlin
- The Emma Press of Mildly Erotic Poetry ed. R. Piercey and E. Wright reviewed by Alex Campbell
- Twelve slanted poems for Christmas ed. H. Ivory and K. Birch reviewed by Angela Topping
- Clause in a noise by Mark Goodwin reviewed by Hayden Westfield-Bell
- Albion by Stephen Emmerson reviewed by Paul McMenemy