[New-Poetry] Gilbert

[David Graham]

The vagaries of fame are always a puzzle, but I seem to recall that Jack
Gilbert was at least a collaborator in the fate of his own reputation.
After winning what was at the time *the* most coveted poetry award, didn't
he more or less turn his back on Po-Biz for a long long time?

And didn't this Garbo-like move help, in fact, to cement his reputation?  In
any case, this underrecognized poet has in his time managed to snag the Yale
Younger Prize, a Guggenheim, N.E.A. & other fellowships, the National Book
Critics Circle Award, and a couple Pulitzer nominations, among other plums.

Nothing against Gilbert's work, but I do have a hard time seeing him as in
any real sense unappreciated.

On 8/30/06 9:29 AM, "Chris Lott" <chris.lott at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 8/30/06, Suzanne Burns <queenmouse at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I think people are finally
>> realizing that he has been vastly under-recognized.  How many prizes has
>> this book gleaned so far?  Would this be the third?
> 
> Better late than never. I don't think _Refusing Heaven_ is nearly as
> strong as his earliest books, but it's all on a continuum above most
> other poets of his type.
> 
> c



====================================================
David Graham
grahamd at ripon.edu
Home Page:
http://www.ripon.edu/faculty/GrahamD/index.html
Poetry Library:
http://www.ripon.edu/faculty/GrahamD/poetrylib.html
====================================================