[Tim Murphy]

Dear Spherians: Recent developments on Accomplished Members prompt me to post some reflections. In 1994 Wilbur urged me to send stuff to The Formalist. I did so and was rejected. Then Mr. Hecht awarded me their Nemerov Prize. Since then The Formalist has published twenty or so of my poems. When I saw Terese's terrific Ronsard translation, I wrote Bill Baer, telling him it was coming, and hey, presto! Terese's Ronsard was accepted along with an original work.

Alicia and Len have just had their first work accepted at the Hudson Review, where Mike Juster has banged on the door for years, as have the "acceptees." Is that a word? No. Alan and I have been far luckier there. Mason told me that Fred Morgan and Paula Deitz were avid orientalists, and David told me exactly what to submit in 1995. They took it, and Alan, who has read the Hudson now for seven years, knows what to send them. Think what you will, the Hudson Review matters a great deal when it comes to publishing your books.

Several of our members have manuscripts worthy of book publication, among them Deborah Warren and Clive Watkins, who will be published by my English house, The Waywiser Press. Who got me there? Our dean of Lariats, Tony Hecht.
That positioned me to put in a good word for Deborah and Clive.

It would be very nice to die unknown and then be resurrected as were Catullus, Dickinson and Cavafy. But "there is no satisfaction in the grave," and meantime I urge all our members to NETWORK and put in a good word for their colleagues wherever they have some influence.

And it behooves all of us to use our limited funds to subscribe to The Formalist, The Hudson Review, The Dark Horse, and those few other journals that present the best work of our Eratosphere members.

Timothy

[Deborah Warren]

The culture of generosity Tim alludes to is one I've found actually astonishing. When I started writing poems, I figured I'd operate in a vacuum; now I seem to spend half my time telling people how I'm girt about by angels.

[Terese Coe]

Tim, it was a pleasure to be given a hand up, if I may call it that. Thank you. One's work has to stand on its own of course, but to point someone in the right direction can be beneficial all around.

I tried to do a little in that way by introducing Dick Davis' work to The Alsop Review staff; previously Rhina's work was presented on The Poets there as well. Perhaps more of those opportunities will present.

In fact, one of the reasons I wrote up the West Chester panel on Fred Morgan's career was his scintillating record in publishing talent over 50 years. I liked his poems and his reading of course, but I guess the very fact of 50 years at the helm of a single publication was a draw to me as well, having worked for a number of publishers and knowing what a toll the job takes on a personality, not to mention on a writing talent. I've only submitted to The Hudson Review once, but I should do again. I certainly don't have an "in" there, nor did I expect to. In fact I'm just a beginner in the world of poetry publishing.

I won't go into the experiences I've had in prose publishing, as they don't seem too relevant to formalist publishing. It's a whole different era and a very different set of personalities. It seems not to be the cutthroat place that prose periodicals are (and have a distinct reputation for being), and that's plenty to be thankful for.

Terese