Selections by well-known folk of their choice of Books of the Year tend to be mulled over by readers who want to see what they might have missed. With this in mind, poetry buffs may have wondered why one of the choices given on these pages by novelist Colm Toibin last December, Derek Mahon's Collected Poems, from Gallery Press, hasn't yet been reviewed here - or as far as we know anywhere else. Toibin praised the book as "an extraordinary achievement", with its "irony, fine-tuning, and command of form".
A powerful endorsement: so where was the book? A phone call to Gallery revealed that Mahon has taken the highly unusual step of issuing instructions to his publishers not to send out any review copies, and will not be offering any reasons why. Gallery are adhering strictly to Mahon's wishes. Meanwhile, the book is in the shops. The whole thing has an aura of mystery about it, which will no doubt do sales of Collected Poems a favour, as curious readers seek it out to try to discover for themselves why Mahon would prefer that the critics withhold their pronouncements.
Literary magazines are a bit like glory holes. Anything can turn up in them; it's the surprise element that attracts readers. Arete - which is a Greek word, meaning controlled vigour of body or mind - is the title of Britain's newest, cheekiest literary magazine. It's edited by poet and critic Craig Raine. Operating from his Oxford pad, he has paid for the first print run of 5,000 himself. Editors will always solicit contributions from their pals, but like the protaganists of Animal Farm, some are more equal than others. Anyway, the first issue of Arete carries a list of contributors which any editor would do hoopla for. Not only this, but they're not receiving any payment. Among them are playwrights Harold Pinter and Patrick Marber, novelists Ian McEwan and William Boyd, poets Wendy Cope and Raine himself. There are also five previously unpublished letters by T.S. Eliot, including one which addresses the redoubtable Ezra Pound by the pet name of "Rabbit".
Putting it together took "two minutes and a lifetime's experience", quotes Raine, from his home in Oxford. Arete will appear three times a year, and Raine is welcoming submissions from this side of the water, and hoping people won't be intimidated by the roll-call of the first issue. "I'm hoping Arete will be a showcase that good new writers will want to appear in. I'm looking for anything that's interesting and well-written - fiction, poetry, reviews, reportage." Does Raine know about Ireland's standing army of poets? Sadbh thinks he soon will. Arete is £7.99 (UK), and should be available through Waterstone's. Submissions to 8 New College Lane, Oxford OX1 3BN, England.
The Yeats Summer School has long been an established fixture in the calendar, but its younger sibling, the Winter School, is also beginning to grow up now. It'll be seven this year and kicks off next weekend, from January 28th to 30th, as the first literary school of the year. The director is Dr Anne Fogarty of UCD, who is moonlighting from her other job as director of the Joyce Summer School. Among the events will be poet Vona Groarke's paper, which has the beguiling title of Staying in Bed, A Recurrent Motif in Contemporary Irish Literature, in the Yeats Memorial Building at 11.15 a.m. on the 29th. Hopefully the punters will be out of the scratcher by then, or else she'll be snookered for an audience. More information from 071-42693 or 071-60291.
The winner of the T.S. Eliot Memorial Prize was presented earlier this week in London by Valerie Eliot, the poet's widow. The 10 poets in the bag for the shortlist included three Irish poets: Paul Durcan, Tom Paulin, and Bernard O'Donoghue. The winner was Hugo Williams, for his book, Billy's Rain - which happens to be one of the shortlist's two books published by Faber, Eliot's old publishers. Williams's book is the lyrical account of an extramarital affair. Apparently his wife's comment on being finally shown the opus was, "Five years' work then?"
More literary bunfights on the horizon with the Kate O'Brien Weekend, which runs from February 25th to 27th. This event has been going since 1985: Kate O'Brien is Limerick's other famous writer, having been brought up in the city's Mulgrave Street. The theme this year is Loss. Events for Friday and Saturday take place in the Hunt Museum, and move to the larger premises of St Michael's Church in Pery Square for the keynote Kate O'Brien lecture on Sunday.
Among those speaking at the various seminars and discussions will be Theo Dorgan of Poetry Ireland, Pat Donlon, recently of the National Library, and journalist Dick Walsh. The keynote speaker this year is British writer, journalist, and critic Blake Morrison, who will be giving his paper at noon on Sunday, for which a large crowd of up to 300 is expected. Morrison is the man who excited much discussion about writers' morality when he published As If; a sympathetic meditation on loss, focusing on the two young boys who were found guilty of murdering Jamie Bugler. It's £30 for entrance to all events, or £5 per event. More information from Sheila Deegan at 061-415799, ext. 225.