A leading poetry magazine editor and poet has called on the top poetry prize competitions to introduce declarations of interest as part of their judging process. Maurice Riordan has revealed, in the latest issue of the Poetry Society’s Poetry Review, that he wrote to organisers of the TS Eliot Prize, Costa Book Awards, and Forward Prizes with his proposal. He added: “It’s fair to say that my suggestion met with some resistance.”

He reports that Bud McLintock, of the Costa Awards, said that “not all of our 15 category judges each year across all five categories necessarily work solely within the literary world, which in itself widens the sphere of influence considerably … I am therefore satisfied that the system works as it is and, in the circumstances, have no plans to change it.”

Susannah Herbert, director of the Forward Arts Foundation, said: “Although there is no formalised process regarding declarations of interest, each of the five Forward Prizes judges is expected to be honest, transparent and scrupulously fair … If you are comparing us with any other prize, the presence of five judges – at least two of whom are not poets – should be stressed. We could introduce formal declarations of interest but … we don’t feel that’s necessary.”

However, the Poetry Book Society, which runs the TS Eliot Prize, replied that it is introducing “a formal process which can be documented on declarations of interest from this year”. Riordan described this as “welcome news”.   

Riordan’s article, headed “Poetry Prizes: An Update”, mentions “instances of favouritism over the years” and the makeup of judging panels that “fosters the perception that it’s all a closed shop”. He says the “most obvious” relationships in the poetry world that should be disclosed are between editors and authors; agents and authors; work colleagues; and between teachers and ex-students and ‘mentees’.

He said: “In practice, the pressure on a judge to get a friend or professional colleague onto the shortlist is more common than is the expectation that one would then try to unfairly influence the final result. It’s necessary, therefore, that declarations of interest are required at every stage of the judging process.”

Riordan goes on to say: “It could be argued that the poetry community is such a small, tight network that if everyone were candid about their interests there would be no one left to decide on awards. I have some sympathy with this view.” But he adds: “It can seem small perhaps only because organisations look to a familiar roster of people when choosing their panels. And that in turn fosters the perception that’s it all a closed shop. No doubt, our current practices sometimes encourage the expectation of patronage and the reciprocation of favours. I want to emphasise sometimes. For the most part, I can say that from my own experience that judges act with fairness. They carry out what is a difficult, time-consuming and often under-rewarded job with integrity and sense of public duty. But because there have been instances of favouritism over the years, even the impartiality of the most scrupulous people may be questioned. I think the introduction of declarations of interest (and hopefully other organisations may now follow the Poetry Book Society’s example) will change the culture. In the meantime, I’d recommend that judges do volunteer declarations of interest, and ask that they be recorded, so that their own personal integrity cannot be compromised.”  

PHOTOGRAPH: GREG FREEMAN / WRITE OUT LOUD