Acumen began publication in 1985.[5] The magazine, headquartered in Brixham, was founded by Patricia Oxley,[5] who was also its editor until issue 100 in May 2021 when Danielle Hope replaced her in the post.[6][1] Her husband William Oxley was its treasurer and interviews editor.[7] The journal is published by Acumen Publications[8] three times a year and covers poems by both famous and lesser known poets and reviews of poems.[9] The magazine was formerly headquartered in Brixham before its head office was moved to London.[1]
The magazine hosts an international poetry competition.[10] Past co-editors of Acumen with Oxley include Anne Stevenson and Evangeline Paterson.[11] The book British Poetry Magazines, 1914-2000 states that Acumen has "been very deliberately concerned with the notion of an independent approach to poetry, though at the same time tending to avoid experimentalism."[11] The magazine was one publication studied in Chapman literary magazine's August 1997 issue entitled The State of British Poetry.[12]
