Enitharmon Press Limited (Directors Stephen Stuart-Smith and Isabel Brittain) is a publisher of poetry books with an extensive list or authors and titles. Enitharmon Editions Limited (Director Stephen Stuart-Smith) is a publisher of art books, most of which are available in signed limited or deluxe editions as collectors’ items. Anne provided both companies with a bookkeeping service on a freelance basis until late in 2013 and now carries out occasional work for them as required.
In 2005, she founded poetry p f, with the idea of creating a focussed and organised space to showcase today’s poets and to provide them with a searchable and contactable internet presence, with the overall aim of promoting poets and poetry to a wider audience. The site currently represents over 300 poets and poetry organisations.
The poetry p f website receives an average of over 208,000 hits per month (from stats at Jun 2013) and is the basis of collaborations with project partners in Romania – poetry pRO – and Germany – poetry tREnD.
The online shop went ‘live’ in 2008, principally selling Poem Cards and books with whose publishers there is some association. The Poem Cards are published by poetry p f with the idea that more ‘real’ poetry can be put in front of a wider readership by using a medium that’s generally well-received, being borne out of a spirit of generosity and good wishes.
The Poem Cards feature poems by members, poetry p f commissions artwork and pays royalties, and some shops and galleries now carry these cards in their range. There are over 50 designs for a range of Anytime, Special occasions, Christmas and New Year cards and the ‘12 poems, 12 poets’ Christmas and New Year set includes poems by Mimi Khalvati and Carole Satyamurti, whose generous support for this project is hugely appreciated.
poetry p f’s publishing imprint is yet to find its true direction, but has published one collection, "Talking of Pots, People & Points of View", by Leicester poet Alice Beer (1912 – 2011), and, in 2009, a bilingual anthology (English/Romanian) of poetry by poetry p f members with translations by MA and PhD students at the University of Bucharest. The anthology, "And the Story Isn’t Over…", and its companion CD, "And the Story So Far…" present, between them, the work of 49 poets (a representative selection of work recently published by both mainstream publishers and in literary journals) and 46 translators. Also see Romanian Connections.
Poem Cards, Alice Beer’s collection, and the And the Story… anthology and CD can all be bought from the poetry p f online shop, and there are links there to read the poems on the cards.
Anne is the Kent North West ‘Stanza’ Rep for the Poetry Society. The Stanza group holds 8 meetings a year – discussion, readings, workshops – in The Two Doves, 37 Oakley Road, Bromley Common, generally on the 3rd Tuesday of the month (excluding Dec, Jan & Aug/Sep) but in October, meets on National Poetry Day for a more ‘glitzy’ reading.
Poetry Society
events listing at poetry p f
Anne is a part-time administrator for Second Light Network, a network for women poets, founded by Dilys Wood. She (Anne) serves on the Committee, created and manages the SecondLightLive website and assists with the technical aspects of managing the membership, circa 350 strong. She co-edited, with Dilys Wood, the pre-launch issue, Issues 1 to 4, and Issues 8 and 11 of the bi-annual publication ARTEMISpoetry, from Second Light Publications.
SecondLightLive
Shortlands Poetry Circle was formed by Miss Catherine Punch in 1911 with the aim of encouraging appreciation and enjoyment of poetry (and isn’t that what every poet wants?) The group meets regularly to read and share poems new and modern, themed topically or by focus on particular poets. Anne was President from 2011 to 2013, manages their webpage at poetry p f and their e-mail list, and helps with some of the administration work. She is also a member of the Circle’s writers’ group.
Shortlands Poetry Circle webpage at poetry p f
events listing at poetry p f
Shortlands Poetry Circle blog
The poetry p f poetry pRO project continues and Anne is one of many poets working with Romanian translators as ‘polisher’. She was the polisher for, amongst other things, Lucian Vasilescu’s long poem, close. so far away – “it was very exciting to receive a signed copy of the finished, and beautifully designed, book (integral/vinea, 2009) at the start of 2010, which is turning out to be another ‘very good year’ for poetry”.
Copyright © 2008 Anne Stewart. All rights reserved.
