It's often been said that, in the academic world, rivalries are all the more vicious not because the stakes are high, but because they are so low. A little money, a little prestige, fame and glory within a narrow cabal unknown to the wider public. Squabbling over scraps is unseemly and perhaps this adds to the nastiness. The same might be said for poetry, genre fiction, or indeed any area of creative endeavour. Which brings me to a tale of poets and the occult.
In Charles Wilkinson's nicely-judged tale, the organiser of an English provincial literary festival fails to invite a local celebrity, a female poet whose work is mystical and occult in nature. The story is told not from the viewpoint of the organiser, but from a rival poet who also runs a small press and wants to avoid her for reasons that will be apparent to anyone familiar with that world. He catches glimpses of the formidable Frances Slater around the venue, and strenuously avoids her. But then he learns something that suggests the poetess may be seeking more than a new publisher.
The story works well, and we experience the slide into weirdness of someone who eventually fulfils Frances Slater's ambition in a terrible, inevitable way. Another good choice from editor Timothy J. Jarvis. More from this running review of Uncertainties IV very soon, I hope.
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