Grants to poetry
Sir: Your Bookbuyer's Bookend column of December 1 has only just arrived on my desk amongst other press cuttings. It contains the information that the Arts Council has "increased their contribution towards the National Book League from £2,500 to £8,000 (commendably) and cut its grant to the impoverished Poetry Society from £11,000 to £8,000 (peculiarly)." Passing lightly over the fact that you have misprinted two of the sums — £2,500 should be E2,800, and £11,000, if you are quoting from the Annual Report, should be £11,500 — allow me to point out that, in fact, the Arts Council's annual grant to the Poetry Society has continued to be greatly increased from year to year. In the two years you refer to, it went from £3,000 (1971/72) to £6,000 (1972/73), though whether "peculiarly" or "commendably" I would rather not say. For the record, the amounts for earlier years are: 1967/68 — £625 1968/69 — £2,000 1969/70 — £2,250 1970/71 — £3,000 In 1971/72 the Poetry Society received an additional 'once only' grant of E8,500 towards the initial costs of establishing the new Poetry Centre. Charles Osborne Literature Director, The Arts Council of Great Britain, 105 Piccadilly, London WI,
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