I was saddened to hear that Geoff Stevens has died. ‘Purple
Patch’ and indeed Geoff became incredibly influential in the world of poetry.
He championed small presses and unknown poets. His life’s work seemed to be to
take on the poetry establishment and its cliques. ‘Purple Patch’ was dedicated to publishing
poems that people actually want to read. At the end of each year the magazine
published an honours list of best small magazines and small magazine’s poets.
Whenever one submitted work he took the time to
critique it and even made suggestions to improve the poem. My link with Geoff and indeed his magazine
began when he published a poem of mine
when I was twenty two , which must have been around abut the time the magazine began
. Latterly, I was so proud to reciprocate by publishing some of his work in ‘Message’.
