Editing and illustrating “Sunken Island: An Anthology of British Poetry”
The launch campaign for Sunken Island: An Anthology of British Poetry – The Bournbrook Press’s first book – has begun. Here is some background, from the perspective of the editor-illustrator-designer.
The launch campaign for Sunken Island: An Anthology of British Poetry – The Bournbrook Press’s first book – has begun. Here is some background, from the perspective of the editor-illustrator-designer.
I was involved from the first stages as a consultant and then later as a contributor, editor and illustrator of the book. From the first book, the editorial team at Bournbrook Magazine wanted to establish their intentions for the book-publishing arm of the organisation. They wanted to cover current life in Great Britain from a more social conservative or traditionalist perspective but with an emphasis on high culture, free speech and vigorous ideas that would appeal to people who are currently not well served by publishing and not served at all by the mass and broadcast media.
When deciding what the launch book should be, the team settled on a volume of poetry about Great Britain. We had thought that it would be something that would summarise the state of the country in the wake of the government-imposed Covid lockdown. As it turned out, we received a lot fewer topical poems on that subject than expected. Perhaps the contributors had noted the editorial hints in the call for contributions, assumed that others would take up that task and then submitted their less topical poems. Not that that was a problem – in the end it turned out to be a strength – but I do wonder what the character of a tightly topical view of a country emerging from a unique social situation would have been.
The range of the poems, in terms of subject, tone, technique and length, was impressively wide. The poets are Nicholas Murray, A. Robert Lee, S.D. Wickett, Daniel Gustafsson, Benjamin Afer (a.k.a Panama Hat), Columba, Rahul Gupta and me. Some of the poets are experienced, widely published and prize winners; others are publishing for the first time. Pages of notes at the end give the backgrounds and other publications of the poets. The poets are located in England, Wales and Scotland. Topics range from mourning the modernisation of a rural village, describing the encroachment of winter and visiting a down-at-heel service station, to being bitten by a dog. Some – like Gupta’s epic verses – are magisterially detached, while others are more personal.
The book title Sunken Island came from the title of a Gustafsson poem in the anthology. It seemed to embody the pessimistic (or at least anxious) view of the British Isles, held by these poets in early 2022. I was determined that the title should come from the material in the volume, rather than being something we fixed before the verses were submitted. As it happened, Gustafsson’s title struck home.
The foreword was written by William Clouston, leader of the SDP. That does not so much give the reader an indication of the political intent of the volume, it rather confirms the breadth of the political outlooks. Readers will find views that are left wing, liberal, conservative and reactionary – as well as verse by poets one could not classify politically (at least on this evidence). There is definitely a weighting towards the traditional, politically and artistically speaking. There is no concrete verse or stream of consciousness here. There is a sustained commitment to clarity, sharpness and directness in the verse.
Editing the book was relatively easy. I considered grouping verse by theme or region but with a relatively small group of verses spread over many topics, that seemed impractical. Instead, I organised poems by writer, keeping the material together. The anthology starts in the present day and – excluding Lee’s reflections of his sentimental education – moves towards the grander, older and more unfamiliar deep history of the country. The only poems (few in number) I excluded were those that seemed to repeat material elsewhere in the poet’s submitted material. I ended up excluding one of my own poems as too insubstantial. It seemed unfinished in quality.
When it came to illustrating, my approach was driven by practicality. Illustrations had to be distributed evenly throughout the volume. The striking image had to take priority. There had to be consistency across the book. So, much as I might have liked to have drawn a portrait of Wyndham Lewis, it would not have worked as part of the group.
Designing was straightforward, mostly. I used the Boldoni MT typeface that I use for all my books and formatted Sunken Island in my established style. A designer was called in to set up the press format and make the cover, which has a drawing by me of the water which submerges the titular sunken island. The Bournbrook team and I went over the production details carefully and selected specifications that make the volume attractive but affordable. Rapidly rising costs of paper and delivery in Great Britain of July 2022 is part of the story of the anthology, one which pushed our planned price from £10 to £12.50. So, that part of history is indelibly printed on the cover.
Sunken Island is a unique view of the landscape of British poetry in 2022 and an impressive start to The Bournbrook Press publishing project. I am proud to have contributed to it.
See here for details on the anthology and how it, and other works, can be ordered.
