This issue comes with a mea culpa. I have long neglected this site. They (whoever they are) claim that the road to hell is paved with good intentions: if I haven't quite reached hell, this and this and this have ensured that Masthead has suffered badly from good intentions for about two years. Which means I'm probably getting quite warm.

Last year, Candice Ward and Andrew Burke began to put together an anthology of poems by poets from a listserv called Poetryetc. And when I heard that this excellent project was languishing without a publisher, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to salve my conscience: ie, to put up a new issue without having to edit it.

Poetryetc is a lively and long-lived email discussion list. I was a member from 1997, when it was founded by John Kinsella, and was one of its many owners for six years. It feels pleasantly appropriate that this impressive and stimulating anthology of Poetryetc poets - an extremely diverse bunch from all over the world, ranging from the well known and widely published to the newly emerging - should find a home here. And I am very happy to contribute an introduction that briefly outlines Poetryetc's interesting and alarmingly productive history.

The anthology is available both online and as a downloadable e-book designed by Peter Ciccariello. Peter is also the featured artist, and this issue's cover image is his artwork Anti-Poem. 

Masthead 11: Poetryetc Special Issue

Alison Croggon
Editor
September 28, 2008