Comments on: Essentialism? Say What?

By: Christopher Hennessy

Christopher Hennessy — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:31:06 +0000

‘I contain multitudes’– Whitman
These conversations are important to have, and I’m especially glad that this particular conversation is branching out to multiple forms of identity. (It is identity that we’re circling, isn’t it?) Race, gender, location, culture, and –what interest me most — sexuality, which I’m happy to bring into the mix.
My book _OUTSIDE THE LINES: Talking with Contemporary Gay Poets_ includes many discussions of how identity shapes the poetic craft: NOT simply what we write, but how we write. I think it’s crucial to understand — for writers and editors and reviewers — that poetry ‘contains multitudes’ and that the greater view and grasp we have of those differences, the richer we ALL are. Each part of identity is also part of our humanity, so if one of poetry’s goals is to map out and sing about what makes us human, then those multitudes must be explored to their fullest.
Ironically, I harbor a guilt for focusing on gay poets in my work. (If I believe in these multitudes, whY not open my scope wider?) Thankfully, when one examines gay poets they are often examining some of the greatest poets we’ve had: Whitman, Langston Hughes, Crane, Auden, O’Hara, Ginsberg, Merrill, Gunn, Adrienne Rich, M. Hacker, Audre Lorde, June Jordan, Muriel Rukeyser, and that’s just the Americans…and boy does the list go on. So I say thankfully because I’m lucky that my particular interest also allows me to see and learn from the greats.

By: Kelly Cherry

Kelly Cherry — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:55:01 +0000

Dear Emily,
In 2005 I published History, Passion, Freedom, Death, and Hope: Prose about Poetry (U of Tampa), a collection of essays, essay-reviews, and reviews regarding poetry. It received, I believe, two reviews. I have written well over a hundred reviews of poetry, fiction, and occasionally nonfiction (The Los Angeles Times, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The Hollins Critic, etc.). A previous collection, Writing the World (U of Missouri, 1995), included pieces about southern poets. My newest title, just out, is Hazard and Prospect: New and Selected Poems. I have been publishing books since 1974. When I write reviews, I am aware of myself as working within the tradition of poet-critics, and I try to produce criticism that is worth not just reading but rereading.
I am a southerner, however, and Southern writers, especially southern poets, tend to be overlooked. For this reason, I make a point of including southern poets when I review, But of course, the national lack of interest in southern poetry bedevils my own work as much as it does the work of other southern writers.
Maybe you have some helpful suggestions to offer. I was an early member of the NBCC but gave it up because there was simply no benefit to someone not in a major city or regularly attached to a major publication.
Although I have not limited my reviews to southern poets, I do believe that a good deal of the best poetry being written today is being written in the South.
Kelly Cherry

By: Paul Nelson

Paul Nelson — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 05:20:23 +0000

Essays on Duncan and Levertov: http://globalvoicesradio.org/Organic_Poetry.html http://globalvoicesradio.org/Evolving_The_Organic.html Enjoy. Paul Nelson

By: Francisco Aragón

Francisco Aragón — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:42:49 +0000

Amen to that.
Thank you, Erika T. Wurth

By: Erika T Wurth

Erika T Wurth — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:35:56 +0000

Let Langston (Hughes) tell it:
“We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. The tom-tom cries and the tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.”

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 02:20:18 +0000

Emily,
I have left a voice mail for you at your number and will try the other number since I didn’t leave my contact info.
I certainly think readers are not interested when essays/promos are not written by people who are interested and aware of an audience of lay people. That’s the best expression I can come up with on the spot. In any case, the difficulty in blindly trusting people who are more businessmen or possibly business women than poets who merely love poetry is that you end up with hackneyed declarations about poems that include how much Spanish is in a poem, rather than punchy prose about what makes a poem spark and even burn.
People ARE bored by business-type pitches that are essentially rooted in self-promotion, though the appearance may be that the pitch is all about generosity and community, it is often quite plainly about getting a piece of the pie. And right now the pie in regards to Latino/a poetry is unevenly divided, even utterly lopsided! The fact business-type marketing seems to have overtaken what/whom gets mentioned here. And this is why I love the cartoon in the post above that has a woman burning at the stake!
I like the idea above regarding the tensions between spanish/spanglish interweaving of language and non Spanish speakers, and I am very glad that you have sensed that Latino/a poetry is not under the umbrella of one speaker’s demands or opinions.
Here I feel as though I’ve gone on and on too long, but as you noted, Francisco Aragon is not shy about asking for a piece of the pie.
I am interested in a number of Latina writers that are both up and coming and established. Lorna dee Cervantes is well established and highly intersting and I would like to interview her for Poetry Foundation or some other venue if she would agree, and I suspect she would agree.
Other phenomenal and under the radar poets are Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Diana Garcia, Diana Delgado, Gina Franco, Veronica Reyes, Benjamin Alire Saenz, Suzanne Frishkorn (sp) Lisa Chavez. I would say Gaspar de Alba and Diana Garcia are long over due for their piece of the pie!!!
I include Ben Saenz because I don’t see him on your website. This actually perplexes me and it is one reason I’ve decided to find a voice here.
There are many others. I think what I see is that in giving business-men type people to talk about poems and more intersting aspects of poetry people get bored. People aren’t interested in us getting angry and chastising white people at Poetry Magazine. People are interested in good writing and I definitely want to state that I agree very much with your assessment. The problem in my opinion is good Latino/a poetry can be drowned out by someone who is eating too much, no?

By: Emily Warn

Emily Warn — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 02:10:05 +0000

Jeannine,
I like your superflat ideas. Let’s backchannel to develop an idea.
Best, Emily

By: Emily Warn

Emily Warn — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 02:02:15 +0000

Dear K.T.,
I think we agree. We want to publish “kick-ass” stuff. As I’ve written elsewhere, those who are advocating on behalf of people of all races and genders, and editors who are seeking out work are both necessary to achieving representation. But we also need people to submit their story ideas and suggestions for possible writers to us. When I say that, I am not blaming people for that not happening. I know there are myriad reasons why it hasn’t. I’m just encouraging people to do so.
If you or others have story ideas for us, please send them to editors@poetryfoundation.org
Emily

By: Emily Warn

Emily Warn — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 01:02:46 +0000

Dear Jane,
I regret my opening snarkiness. My intention was to be playful and provocative, and in so doing, invite many of our readers, who most likely do not know what “essentialism” means, to read on. But how backwards is that? Creating an “other” in order to be inclusive? I agree, too, that such categorizing can have an impact on who publishes whom, so thanks for pointing that out.
I think what you’re saying about “criticality” is that making it part of one’s worldview is a valid choice, and since it is not as popular (or as easy ) as narrative, that choice leads to inequities in prizes and money. If that’s what you meant, then it would be interesting to find out if that’s true.
(My ear transposed your “mutual-support cuddle” into muddle-cuddle. I am a strong proponent of both!)
Best,
Emily

By: Francisco Aragón

Francisco Aragón — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:27:21 +0000

“As for reviews, they are possibly the most frustrating and difficult part of the work we do: one of the things these interesting critiques shows is how hard it is to find good prose about poetry and books of any kind.”
Dear Don Share:
I find it encouraging that you (and therefore, Poetry?) have at least acknowledged the issue of “reviews.”
I didn’t begin to address this issue (my admittedly particular angle on this issue) until CW wrote his piece in the magazine (perhaps before you joined Poetry?) in which he explicitly stated (and I’m paraphrasing here) that Poetry aims to review “a range of books.”
After CW’s piece was published (well over a year and a half possible two years ago), I wrote a very brief letter to Poetry pointing out that that “range,” up until then, did not include books by Latinos or Latinas.
My brief letter was not published.
Shortly thereafter, a couple of pieces appeared in the New York Sun and then the Boston Globe highlighting the magazine’s exploits. Both the Sun and the Globe published brief letters I wrote, highlighting my observation. I have no idea if the fact that those letters (and the issue they were raising) even made a blip on Poetry’s radar.
Your comment above (”As for reviews…”), very skillfully avoids addressing the issue at hand
(that Poetry has not reviewed a single volume of verse by a Latino or Latina poet since at least the Fall of 2003), though it does suggest something that perhaps you can clarify:
Am I to understand—based on your statement—-that Poetry magazine has tried to “find good prose about poetry and books” written by Latino and Latina poets, and has not been able to? Is that Poetry’s official response?
Is that Poetry’s official response for not reviewing, for example, Bent to the Earth by Blas Manuel de Luna and nominated for the National Book Critic Circle’s Prize in 2005? Or Alberto Rios’ latest book, published with Copper Canyon, Theater of Night, and also a winner of a recent award by PEN American?
How much longer does your magazine intend to keep ithis perfect record intact?
F