Newsflash: Poetry is an unprofitable career path

Jeannie Vanasco, writing for the New Yorker’s Book Bench, responds to an advice column by Nick Synko, a Michigan career coach, who wrote to a worried parent of an aspiring poet, “Let’s hope she selects a career that brings her both job satisfaction as well as financial stability. ” Vanasco then calls Synko, hoping for a more thorough response to the question of unprofitable career paths, allowing Synko to reveal that his own daughter is also an aspiring poet, and that he in no way discourages the work of poets:

“There are parents who refuse to pay for their child’s college education unless the degree has financial viability to it, and that’s really, really unfortunate. It’s almost abusive when you look at it. A career as a writer or a poet is certainly a viable option to those who can compete where few paying opportunities exist. Is there a future in poetry? The world would be a far, far lesser place without it.”