It was W B Yeats who said of his contemporary poets: "One thing is for sure: we are too many." Even so, a wholesale culling British bards seems a cruel way to address the problem. Only a few weeks after National Poetry Day, Oxford University Press has axed its poetry list. The casualties include Craig Raine, Sean O'Brien, D J Enright and Peter Porter.
OUP has published 20 poetry books in the past two years. Now every living poet on the list will have to start scrambling for berths with other publishers, which will not necessarily offer any greater security than OUP has. Apart from Bloodaxe, which has introduced many names, national and international, by virtue of an eclectic enthusiasm and a hefty subsidy from Northern Arts, mainstream publishers have maintained poetry lists in the teeth of economic counter-argument; print-runs (apart from those of Hughes and Heaney) are small and make for low returns; advances are tiny and sometimes never recouped; and sales forces, working on commission, are unlikely to waste time pushing these unlucrative tomes when a good sale of a trade paperback will ensure that their kids get decent christmas presents.
While it's assumed that many poets on the list will find niches at other publishers, there are fears that the crowd of refugees will make it harder for young and unpublished poets to gain a foothold. Another loss will be in the field of foreign poetry. The authors on the OUP list are unflagging in their praise for Jacqui Simms, poetry editor for the past 20 years. "Some people never left, because of their loyalty to her, and the sense of continuity she gave the list, however frustrated they were by the publisher," says poet Michael Donaghy. It was a common experience for authors to find themselves promoting their work without books to sell. "Sean O'Brien went on tour and ordered his books for the events. He finally received one copy - on the last day."
In the teeth of this, Simms persevered. Jamie McKendrick recalls her long-standing battles with the money men: before he was published himself, he met one who "boasted at a party that he was trying his damnedest to axe the list. Jacqui moved very fast and managed to refloat the list." Yet now the bottom-line philistines have won. Simms herself is reported to be depressed, shocked and angry. It is widely believed that the accountants have recommended closing a list that makes few profits in order to be seen doing something draconian, and that the people higher up in the publishing house do not care enough about poetry to disagree.
"This is an eminent history they've jettisoned," says McKendrick. "Everyone is wondering if they realise what they're doing. Next to Faber and Faber, OUP has the highest international profile. Because of losses in another section of the press, it is shattering that prestige. A lone voice of dissent on the advisory board warned that it was a "serious and irreversible step".
Andrew Potter, a director at OUP, points to the currency failures in the east, which have affected export earnings. "The Academic division, of which poetry is a part, has had to concentrate on core business. We are a commercial organisation, and there's only so much we can do. As an institution, we're expected to carry a lot of flags." The decision was made at the highest level, with a committee of dons finally signing the death warrant. "Some of them found it difficult," Potter admits.
This may be a mistake. As Sean O'Brien says: "Poetry is something you need to stick with. However interesting it is, it'll never sell by the truckload. But these things are important. One would have thought a university press would be a little more aware of its responsibilities." McKendrick says: "All the books on the list will be out of print soon, and there will be no reprints. Yet they could make money out of some of these books with no problems."
Foremost in everyone's mind is the fact that Jo Shapcott, whose work already sells well, has a new volume out, My Life Asleep. As a Poetry Book Society recommendation and as a strong contender for January's T S Eliot Prize, it is guaranteed an increase of sales. But there's a real danger that this much-lauded book will be unavailable to those who'd love to read it.