I wanted to share with you this great post on Fiona Moore’s blog about how Stephen Payne came to publish his debut collection with HappenStance.
Pattern Beyond Chance has just been published, nine years after Stephen first emailed HappenStance publisher, Helena Nelson, with a tentative enquiry about critiquing his poems.
It’s fascinating to read how Stephen developed a professional relationship with Helena, his reflections on and appreciation of the editing process, and his literary progress over almost a decade.
I first met Stephen about three years ago at Hilda Sheehan’s book launch in Swindon. We’ve stayed in touch ever since, we’ve become poetry friends, and Stephen was one of the people I sent the manuscript of my pamphlet to, once tall-lighthouse had offered me publication.
Reading Stephen’s story has made me really look forward to hearing him read next Monday at Toppings, Bath, where he’ll be launching the book. Might see some of you there but enjoy the blog post, in any case!
Josephine Corcoran 