No-one Expects The Poetry Requisition....

I received this message by email yesterday (Sunday) from Anne-Marie Fyfe, Organiser of coffee-house poetry at the troubadour www.coffeehousepoetry.org
It reads -
Dear Poetry Supporters

Something of a one-off - but a necessary response to all those who've written to this address or via the website asking for more info on the present Poetry Society crisis, and asking particularly what members and others can do.

For those who haven't seen the press reports, the present Board (my term as Chair ended in 2010, I'm afraid, though I'm still a member as I've been for twenty-something years) introduced significant structural changes with the result that the Director, President and Finance Officer resigned.

Since the dispute attracted media attention, the Board's Chair, one Trustee, and an Honorary Vice-President have also resigned and, baffled by mismanagement, lack of consultation and total secrecy on the changes, a group of 500-ish members have petitioned for (or requisitioned) an Extraordinary General Meeting (to which they're legally entitled, being more than 10 per-cent of the membership) at which to ask the Board for an account of events: this has been agreed and scheduled for 22nd July in London, but is being misrepresented in some quarters.

I can tell you all that it isn't about a dispute between the Society's Director and its magazine editor, or about how the latest, increased, Arts Council grant is to be allocated. It is simply about Board mismanagement and lack of consultation with the membership.

So I really would encourage anyone who's interested in supporting the widest possible range of poetry, both in the Society's flagship 'Poetry Review' and/or in live readings, who values the Society's 'educational' activities as much as 'promotion' and 'enjoyment' of poetry, who reads famous and not-so-famous poets, from both large and small publishers, who wants to ensure that ordinary members aren't sidelined - to join, if you haven't already done so, the requisitioners (who include Poet Laureate, Carol-Ann Duffy) by e-mailing organiser Kate Clanchy (kateclanchy@gmail.com) and she'll give you details and if you can't be with us in person on 22nd, how to organise a proxy before Tuesday evening.

If you're not already a member, and you care about poetry, this is the time to join, so e-mail Kate Clanchy and she'll advise.