HOODWINKING POETRY BACK FROM CLAMMY HANDS

How can you resist a "poetry and illustration magazine gently intent on
hoodwinking poetry back from the clammy hands of tweed jackets and school
anthologies"? It's not often that a mission statement–– that rote recycler of wearisome
phrases––whets a reader's appetite. Even better, Popshot delivers on its promise.

Jacob Denno, the young founder and editor of this small, Britain-based magazine, wisely chose to set a theme for each issue. Parameters can ease readers into a more unusual reading experience. Popshot also includes a brief primer on how it should be read. Presumptuous? Not really. "Make yourself a cup of tea or find a suitable biscuit," the editors suggest. "This magazine does not benefit from being skim read." In high school it's always the stricter teachers that earn the most attention. Ditto magazines: Popshot's refusal to pander demands a level of alertness that the contemporary magazine-reader is perhaps unaccustomed to giving. Happily, the alertness is earned.

For the second issue, just released and with an "Us & Them" theme, the poems–24 of them–are energetic and smart. A précis follows each one, a patient addendum to illuminate a poet's intentions. If the poems tend to overshadow the illustrations, it is only because this reader happens to be drawn to words over forms (which tend to have a more supportive role here anyway; the poems are selected first, and are then sent to illustrators). Small enough to fit in to a coat pocket, Popshot is a reminder that poetry thrives in the 21st century, if perhaps in unexpected forms, if perhaps in unexpected forms.

~ MOLLY YOUNG