http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/03/james-dickeys-top-10-poets-of-1971/ Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:40:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/03/james-dickeys-top-10-poets-of-1971/#comment-96 Robert Vasquez Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:56:03 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=79#comment-96 I've always found James Dickey's comments and letters fascinating. Although I never met him (but would have loved to), I've met others who did and talked about "big Jim Dickey" with both awe and amusement. Hence, his list strikes me as in keeping with the persona that Dickey cultivated (which poet of renown hasn't done so even indirectly?). As for the poets on Dickey's list, I must say that Auden, Lowell, Wilbur, Stafford, Bishop, Berryman, and Wright have defined American poetry and have influenced many poets (myself included), but many others are currently in the process of re-defining the canon and influencing a new generation of poets (my list, in alphabetical order, is certainly arguable and not complete by any means): Ai, Ashbery, Bly, Dove, Forche, Gluck, Hall, Hongo, Kinnell, Levine, Rios, Stern, Strand, Walcott, and C.K. Williams, to name just a few). Dickey's list, if nothing else, illustrates how American letters at one time excluded people of color from any prominence within the worlds of publication and academe. In contrast, if a contemporary poet of Dickey's stature hasn't heard of or read a poem by Rita Dove, Alberto Rios, or Derek Walcott, he or she must live in an ivory tower that's delapidated and in need of remodeling. I’ve always found James Dickey’s comments and letters fascinating. Although I never met him (but would have loved to), I’ve met others who did and talked about “big Jim Dickey” with both awe and amusement. Hence, his list strikes me as in keeping with the persona that Dickey cultivated (which poet of renown hasn’t done so even indirectly?).
As for the poets on Dickey’s list, I must say that Auden, Lowell, Wilbur, Stafford, Bishop, Berryman, and Wright have defined American poetry and have influenced many poets (myself included), but many others are currently in the process of re-defining the canon and influencing a new generation of poets (my list, in alphabetical order, is certainly arguable and not complete by any means): Ai, Ashbery, Bly, Dove, Forche, Gluck, Hall, Hongo, Kinnell, Levine, Rios, Stern, Strand, Walcott, and C.K. Williams, to name just a few).
Dickey’s list, if nothing else, illustrates how American letters at one time excluded people of color from any prominence within the worlds of publication and academe. In contrast, if a contemporary poet of Dickey’s stature hasn’t heard of or read a poem by Rita Dove, Alberto Rios, or Derek Walcott, he or she must live in an ivory tower that’s delapidated and in need of remodeling.
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