We’re checking in with Richard Skinner after his brilliant 14 Anthology Launch at the June Margate Bookie to find out who took part and what happened at this amazing reading event.
What’s the 14 Anthology all about?
14 magazine is an annual poetry magazine devoted to poems of fourteen lines only and is published by Vanguard Editions. An ethos for Vanguard Editions has always been to provide a platform for new, unpublished voices and 14 magazine is no different. In that spirit, 14 magazine carries a feature every issue called platform 14, which will be a showcase for under-represented voices from projects supported by community groups and charities across the UK.
How do you put an anthology like this together?
The window for submissions to the magazine is 1st April – 30th June each year. I receive hundreds of poems from around the world, which is amazing. It takes me another few weeks to select the fifty-five or so poems for the magazine. It goes to the printers in September and is usually launched in October. For obvious reasons, that hasn’t been possible these past two years but the Bookie gave us a much-appreciated opportunity to give the magazine a physical launch, finally!
Who took part?
Fourteen of the contributors read their poem from the magazine plus one more. The event also presented all five women writers from the platform 14 feature in this issue. Copies of the first two issues of 14 magazine were on sale at the Bookie’s pop-up book shop.
How did it go?
So good! All 14 readers managed to get from all corners of the UK to Margate on time and they all read beautifully. Then, the five women who were part of the platform 14 feature blew everyone away with their poems of life, struggle and celebration. Everyone was amazed at the venue and its sea views. Just a wonderful occasion.
Where can we find more out about you?