[New-Poetry] Gilbert

almaginnes at aol.com almaginnes at aol.com
Wed Aug 30 13:06:25 EDT 2006


Have to agree with David here. There was a point when Gilbert was more famous for not writing than for writing. That having been said, his work has always been  of a remarkably high and consistent quality. Maybe, infact, a little too consistent. I'd be hard put to tell a poem from Views of Jeopardy from a poem from Refusing heaven. 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: grahamd at ripon.edu
To: new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu
Sent: Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:34 AM
Subject: [New-Poetry] Gilbert


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:
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