Comments on: Why I did not win the Nobel Prize in Literature

By: Javier Huerta

Javier Huerta — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:06:28 +0000

By: Javier Huerta

Javier Huerta — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:09:35 +0000

Tommy: thanks for the confidence.
Steve: If I had anything to say about it, you would be on Harriet. Loved your comments. I also loved your piece over on Critical Mass.
Tara: thanks for your comment. the rhyming is AC/DC.
Doodle: that’s how I reacted when I read Bloom’s introductions to “Best of the Best” and “The Western Canon.” Is this guy for real? He’s gotta be kidding, right? Where’s the camera? Am I being Punked?
Rich: In addition to those comments that you point out, it was Bloom who said, they have the numbers, we have the heights. Thanks for following this up with a thoughtful post over on your blog.
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By: Erika Wurth

Erika Wurth — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:11:09 +0000

“Honey… the Gods are laughing at us.” -L. Hughes.
Hey, Javier – am I STILL your hero?
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By: Rich Villar

Rich Villar — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:01:04 +0000

Also, Javier.
Wanted to add one more reason:
Because I’m ever upper class high society, God’s gift to ballroom notoriety. I always fill my ballroom (the events are never small). The social pages say I’ve got the biggest balls of all.
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By: Rich Villar

Rich Villar — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:43:09 +0000

Who’s not kidding:
John Hollander when he was quoted on NPR as saying there isn’t much quality work coming from nonwhite poets today.
Who’s also not kidding:
A Nobel official who said that Europe was the center of the literary world, and that American literature is too insular and ignorant.
Couple these statements with the assertion that “Orientalism is back in fashion” with a Nobel winner who writes about Latin America, and methinks there’s a lot more to be said about this post.
Personally, the more I think about awards and accolades and who gets them and who doesn’t, the more I must retreat into myself and simply search for the best writing I can muster. I’m currently re-reading Julia De Burgos in translation, cognizant that translation doesn’t always translate into understanding.
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By: Doodle

Doodle — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:32:09 +0000

I can’t tell who’s kidding and who isn’t anymore.
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By: Tara Betts

Tara Betts — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:14:59 +0000

Rich Villar and I are enjoying your humor, your rhymes in the first stanza in particular, and the nod to Juan Felipe Herrera.
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By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:12:40 +0000

A Few Other Reasons Why I Have Not Been Asked to Blog for This Website
11. I wrote my last post when I was drunk, And everyone knows that responsible bloggers don’t so such things. Or at least not admitting to them.
12. I am a writer who was published by a supersmall press. Therfore, I would be able to say things about poets and the poetry community that others couldn’t say because I know no one will ever give me something special.
13. I don’t use spellcheck. Even though if one of students fails to do so, I would subtract a full letter grade from their paper grade.
14. I’m no longer drunk. Only buzzed. And I still don’t have the restraint to keep my mouth shut.
15. I’ve sent poems to Poetry for years and I havem’t even gotten a rejection with a personal note. But I still keep all the letters pasted in family scrapbooks, looking at them every so often, hoping there was some encouragement that I’d never seen there before.
16. Because I am unknown, writers would be able to relate to my in amore genuine way rahter than allowing them to covet things that most poets never receive.
17. I’d be truly grateful for the position rather than talking about how busy my life is and how difficult it is to come up with something to write about.
18. I would argue with the poets on this blog, so they would secretly admire me and help me ge my next book published.
19. I would post postiive reviews of other authors from my press Marsh Hawk Press os they would publish my next book. (No one from the press has made such an overture and my feelings are hurt.)
20. I would post postiive reviews of other authors from other presses (like Tupelo and Wesleyan and Fence and BOA and Carnegie Mellon and Steel Toe etc etc etc) and become a beloved figure and they would publish my next book.
20. My resume would be too short and the other bloggers would demand more pay.
21. Other unknowns would demand that they be allowed to have their own forum.
22. I would write negtive things about Mark Doty and Wayne Koestenbaum who refused to blurb my book. They were supposed to support me unconditionally. I’m gay. They’re gay. Does there need tobe anothing more between us?
Steve Fellner
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By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:37:59 +0000

Why I Have Not Been Asked to Blog fro This Website
1. No one knows who I am.
2. I only come up with an interesting thought every two years.
3. I am transparently self-promotional.
4. I’m deluded enough to think that I might win the Nobel Prize
5. I’m deluded enough to think that I might win the Nobel Prize if I’m offered gigs like blogging for this Website.
6. I don’t have an author photo.
7. If I had an author photo, I have low sex appeal.
8. My Amazon sale rank 1, 256, 201 is too high.
9. I’m not worldly. I’ve never traveled outside the United States. And when I did, I went to Bejiing and was shocked that no one understood what I wanted when I pointed to it.
10. I’m currently nominating myself.
Steve Fellner
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By: Tommy Craig

Tommy Craig — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:36:32 +0000

I just had to comment. I am sure your work is good enough to win the Nobel Prize. Maybe it’s the fact that there can be only one winner. It’s a bummer I know. But don’t be so hard on yourself. lol…..chillout!
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