[New-Poetry] Sizing up Seidel

[David Graham]

I don't think we have any "best poet"--certainly not one that a  
significant number of readers would agree on.   The scene is too  
fragmented, contentious; and the numbers are simply too huge.  Even  
if Helen Vendler wanted to read all the books published every year,  
she couldn't.   No one could.

Still, what struck me about Kirsch nominating Frederick Seidel for  
Best Poet was that Seidel isn't even remotely a Usual Suspect in any  
camp I know about -- his name recognition, even among poetry addicts,  
is far far less than, say, Jorie Graham, Michael Palmer, Gerald  
Stern, Adrienne Rich, Dana Gioia, Ron Silliman, John Ashbery, Philip  
Levine, Carolyn Kizer, Rita Dove, Albert Goldbarth, Louise Gluck, and  
many dozens more who spring to mind.  His lack of presence in most  
anthologies, course syllabi, critical studies, and academic  
conferences would also indicate that, despite his prestige publisher,  
he's a dark horse oddball.

Not that there's anything *wrong* with being a dark horse oddball, of  
course.  And not to say he's a poor poet, necessarily.  I haven't  
read enough yet to make a judgment, myself.  I'll admit that Sam  
Gwynn's review did not encourage me to make an immediate Amazon order  
of Seidel. . .

But if recent response on this list is at all indicative, he's not on  
many of your short lists for major poet, either.  Aside from Sam  
Gwynn and Jim Finnegan, can we have a show of hands?  How many of you  
have ever read an entire book by Seidel?
==========================================
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
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