Comments on: A NATIONAL MUSEUM OF POETS & WRITERS?

By: Bradley Paul

Bradley Paul — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:25:22 +0000

Wow. A poetry museum is a terrible idea for two reasons.
First, it seeks to institutionalize that which should rail against institutions. How could anyone conceive that Whitman’s barbaric yawp belongs in a building on, say, the Mall? This seems to miss the point as ridiculously as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Second, does anyone doubt for a minute that the decision on who does and does not get into this thing (other than the canonical poets) would be determined by the politics, nepotism and faddishness that characterize so much of the poetry world?
There are enough anthologies, prizes and MFA programs. Poetry doesn’t need to cavort with officialdom any more than it already does.
Of course, the other alternative is that it turns into a campy wax museum, where we can see an animatronic Berryman kick a pile of his own $#!@ at a pair of Iowa City cops. If that’s the plan…full speed ahead.

By: Kent Johnson

Kent Johnson — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:18:02 +0000

I realize this is a bit off-topic, but I think there would be strong interest for this among Harriet readers. So I just wanted to share this web site I only found out about yesterday.
It is the site of my former Milwaukee roommate John Beadle, with whom I’d lost touch for many years (he’s still in Milwaukee– he’s been building motorcycles at Harley Davidson for nearly three decades). Already, back in the 80s, when we were living together and selling The Militant newspaper at plant gates at 6 AM, he had an astonishing collection of African records. For four or five years he had a weekly African music radio show on a public station in Milwaukee, can’t remember the call letters now. And now his collection, this is no exaggeration, is one of the most important on the planet. He is married to a woman from Nigeria, so he’s been going over there annually for many years now, bringing back the latest, and also the obscure oldies.
Anyway, please check this out, and drop him a note of appreciation for this wonderful and long labor of culture work.
http://likembe.blogspot.com/
Kent

By: Don Share

Don Share — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:59:21 +0000

Bill, what can I say? It’s 100% open to the public. You (or somebody) used to bring up boxes of your terrific photocopied books, back in the day, which we faithfully distributed at your own generous request. In all the time I was there, if we ever had a student who would have chased a book or mag back to the shelf, it would have astounded me. You never let me know about being treated poorly, or I woulda yelled at somebody about it. On behalf of the ghost of Ned Woodberry, I apologize to you.
I will say that half the time the guards at the main entrance to the building gave me the hairy eyeball, too – as required by their job description, I suppose. Then again, I don’t dress as well as the average student nowadays, so they probably thought I was a shoe-scraper, too. Which, in fact, I was.

By: Bill Knott

Bill Knott — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:47:23 +0000

sorry, i can’t let this one go by—
harvard poetry room open to the public!
hah . . .
that’s a half-truth at best …
i spent 30 years in bostcamsom and recall knowing very few poets who went to that poetryroom, or mentioned it to me——
i myself went 3 or 4 times early on, and then stopped trying . . .
because by “public” they don’t mean riffraff like me——
assuming you can get by the guard at the front door who demands your harvard id card,
and then when you prove yourself scum by not having a harvcard,
and you kneel begging the fleas in his collar to grant you admittance to this holy of holies,
please please i’m a poet may i go to the poetroom, i won’t touch anything else i swear,
the guard phones up to the po-room to warn them an intruder has entered the premises,
and everybody there in the entryhall looks at you like you’re shoe scrape and tut tut to each other and furrow their noses at the stink of you—
and then of course assuming you are allowed up to the Woodpecker po-place,
the studentstaff on duty there hawkwatch you make sure you don’t commit unharvard,
“Can I help you find anything” they sneer like you’re a nitwit who can’t read the labels around the walls—
and after you put a book or magazine back on the shelf or rack they immediately gloat-glide over and examine it for injury, frowning at you all the while——
et cet . . . really a demeaning experience—
and, as i said above, after 3 or 4 trials like this, i stopped going—
“open to the public” . . . yeah

By: Don Share

Don Share — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:28:57 +0000

That’s a great idea, Dan! (Not to bore anyone w/details, but there’s not a linear relationship between the endowment of an insitution and the money doled out in annual budgets. It’s also complicated by the fact that much funding is gift money with terms on its use, not $$ from some great kitty that can be used at will. Anyway, though the recent news about Brandeis and it’s soon-to-be ex-museum do not bode well, you’re right to think that there’s much to be done along the lines you suggest.)

By: DAN BRADY

DAN BRADY — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:20:48 +0000

You would know better than me from your time there. That’s for sure. I guess I was thinking Houghton was supported, in part, by Harvard’s near $30 billion endowment (even after the current financial crisis). Either way, an exhibit culled from the Woodberry’s collection could be a big draw. Poet’s House could contribute a similar loan for an exhibition or take their annual showcase on the road.

By: Don Share

Don Share — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:20:14 +0000

The Houghton at Harvard wouldn’t have the budget for such a museum – but it does support the Woodberry Poetry Room, which is open to the public and a true poetry landmark.

By: Dan Brady

Dan Brady — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:20:41 +0000

For years the Smithsonian has been looking for a partner organization to help revitalize it’s Arts and Industries building (the second oldest building on the national Mall) which is currently under used and in need of repair. Perhaps a National Museum of Literary Arts and Letters could fill the void.
The space could act as a venue for readings and lectures, house poets’ manuscripts and papers, and multi-media exhibits. Universities and private collections could lend writer’s papers and artifacts for exhibits. Earned income possibilities might include an extensive poetry and literary bookstore, space rental, conference/festival registrations, and of course, gift shop items. I’d love to see an on-site operated letterpress that could produce signature items from the museum.
This beautiful building has been essentially unused for quite some time and the Smithsonian hasn’t had any luck with promising proposals thus far. This is a project that the Poetry Foundation is a unique position to spearhead. Possible partners could include the PEN/Faulkner Foundation (already based in DC), the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Library of Congress. Or other arts organizations with sizable budget such as the Lannan Literary Foundation or even Harvard’s Houghton Library.