MS: You've been Poetry Editor at Picador since 1997. How did that association begin – was Peter Straus the connection?

DP: It was so long ago I can barely remember … Peter (who's now my agent, but was then publisher at Picador) had already decided to publish Robin Robertson's debut collection. I got a call from Jon Riley, who was at Macmillan in those days – and he proposed starting a small, perfectly formed list and asked me to edit it. It's now the same size as the Faber front-list, I think, with around thirty-two poets.

MS: When the Picador list started, you took on some poets orphaned by the closure of the OUP poetry list (Peter Porter, Sean O'Brien, Michael Donaghy); you've published debut collections by poets like Robin Robertson, Paul Farley, John Stammers, Frances Leviston, Rachael Boast, and also books by poets who've previously been with other publishers. Is there a typical manner in which a new poet will come across your radar?

DP: Typically, it's word of mouth. It's also by far the most reliable way; there's very little talent going round at any one time, and the jungle telephone's ringing off the hook when it shows up, meaning you'll often hear about folk from several sources at once. A poet, an editor or an academic will drop a line and say … you want to keep an eye on this one. So the A&R part of the job is just keeping an ear to the ground. Talking to people, asking for recommendations, and making sure you're in touch with younger poets, especially. Ploughing through slush piles or reading hundreds of magazines has always been the most inefficient way of doing it, and guarantees a snowblind loss of perspective. Poets who are with other publishers approach me directly from time to time. I don't poach, though.

MS: Is there something like ‘Picador poetry’ that you could characterise? And how do you think the complexion of the Picador list has changed in the fifteen years it's been running?