It seems much livelier over here now so hello to anyone new. Today I've written about poetry pamphlets/chapbooks and why I’ve never quite seen the point of them. I am hoping that many people will weigh in! vamoul.substack.com/p/whats-the-... - ThreadSky

victoriamoul.bsky.social • 136 days ago

It seems much livelier over here now so hello to anyone new. Today I've written about poetry pamphlets/chapbooks and why I’ve never quite seen the point of them. I am hoping that many people will weigh in! https://vamoul.substack.com/p/whats-the-point-of-pamphlets

Comments

caroljforrester.bsky.social•136 days ago

I adore pamphlets, I also don’t agree with referring to it as ‘scoping out the competition’. As a poet I read poetry for pleasure almost exclusively.
The smaller quantity can really focus a poet and so the quality can be outstanding. I think it’s a really impactful format when done well.

sarakbarker.bsky.social•136 days ago

As a historian of pamphlets, i admit this gave me a start! But v interesting to read and think from a modern perspective.

victoriamoul.bsky.social•136 days ago

Thanks Sara! I work a lot on the 16th and 17th century so also find the historical comparisons v interesting.

joelcalahan.com•135 days ago

You claim not to get the point of chapbooks—but then you also say that you like slim, taster collections at a low price, and some of your favorite new works are boutique or historic single poems and also tough little books by Prynne—so it actually seems like you do get the point of them?

victoriamoul.bsky.social•135 days ago

Well as I say I don’t the get the point of them as they function in the UK at the moment, because I like the idea in principle but in practice they are so hard to get hold of and almost impossible to browse. Which seems to defeat the point.

shotscarecrow.bsky.social•132 days ago

Some poets never advance beyond the pamphlet stage, so snapping them up is the only chance you'll get to own a collection of their work. Others (like me) don't reprint pamphlet content in full collections.

officialmchangpoet.bsky.social•136 days ago

Ur being arbitrary, it depends on the work. Saying 60 pages is too much may be true for the work of particular poets. For some poets 10 pages is unbearable. But generally chaps are extremely useful for roadtesting material, kicking the tires to see what resonates with ppl.

hermagoras.bsky.social•135 days ago

"For some poets 10 pages is unbearable" damn that cuts a couple ways doesn't it

pcevans.bsky.social•136 days ago

I don't think the poetry collection of 60+ pages is the correct model for our artform. Spined books of 40 odd pages would be the way to go, plus selecteds and collecteds. 60+ pages is driven by economics, not content.

victoriamoul.bsky.social•136 days ago

I would agree. I like a proper book, 40 or so pages is fine. This does actually seem to be a common model in France, to be fair.

pcevans.bsky.social•136 days ago

In the Netherlands, too, 40+ pages is standard. Collections are also more expensive than in the UK and are produced as luxury objects.

victoriamoul.bsky.social•136 days ago

Yes there’s definitely a lot of that in France (though also cheaper/more mainstream approaches). The poetry book as a beautiful object, quite often with bespoke art, hand bound or whatever.

pcevans.bsky.social•136 days ago

I read pamphlets frequently, bought via readings or from publishers directly. Many poets publish a pamphlet between collections. They are often more satisfying than the full collections, which are often too long.

victoriamoul.bsky.social•136 days ago

Yes I do comment in the piece about "collections" having become generally too long, and noticeably longer than they were.

graywyvern.bsky.social•132 days ago

chapbooks are poet money. we used to trade them with each other, back in the day, before internet swallowed everything. now some of those people have died, & from time to time i think of how few copies were ever made & now i have one of the only ones left.

robmclennan.bsky.social•135 days ago

i saw!

billymills.bsky.social•135 days ago

Good pamphlets are dispatches from the front.

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