[New-Poetry] Against National Poetry Month

Sat Apr 14 14:44:51 EDT 2007

Um, no, that's not the kind of simplistic dichotomous thinking I was promoting, Jeff, but it's a convenient deduction to support such a silly analogy (i.e. 'storming the bookstores to burn popular books') that reduces and distracts from my original response regarding addressing the more complex issue of what's at stake when it comes to promoting poetry in the mainstream fashion -- Show me up for a "lazy thinker" who is 'sidestepping thinking' ... that's *your* innovative thinking?  That's engaging with and addressing the issue at hand?  That's extending yourself as a poet and putting forth some suggestions of how poetry might rattle a bit?  Better to call me a lazy thinker than to address what's at stake, personally and publicly, when examining what, exactly, the Academy is promoting, how they're promoting it, what gets left out, how money in the po' business is actually used, the effect such use has on the barometer of poetry, how the Academy might use the tradition of
 poetry as a tool that incites, reflects unpopular sentiment, etc. -- even questioning such mechanics is difficult ...

As David elaborates on and I noted earlier, the mainstream has ways of absorbing poetry so that even the 'edgy' or uncomfortable stuff is watered down or ultimately dismissed - so that it doesn't threaten.  Eventually, some of it, when it's no longer so threatening to 'public thought' (& ease) can move in.  And poets seem to be okay, or at least, apathetic about this process.  

Do we not have any historical models to build from?  Any alternatives to the Academy's poetry month that go beyond Jeff's call for insulated attacks that involve donning army boots?  
We can put more energy into mocking someone who has taken the time at least to point at the issue and calling for something to be done, than to actually consider a response to the way the machine works (yes, it's a simplistic metaphor, but convenient for list purposes).  It's more convenient and 'uplifting' (in that fleeting unsubstantial way) to counter how Bernstein's essay, still unpulled after - gasp - nine years, is old news that we've certainly understood and gone beyond.  Excuse me, where have we moved beyond it exactly?  We've found ways to suppress the questioning (& in turn, defeat ourselves), much in the same way certain right wing mainstream thinkers can call feminists 'cows' so that they don't have to actually engage with the issues the cows raise.  The answer on this list seems to be that that's just the way it is - business as usual; the mainstream exists because it does, because most people like what's popular and that's that, and to discuss it or suggest a
 response not to accept the way the mainstream promotes is quid pro quo.  I mean 'look, they're letting in Hejinian and whomever else is considered innovative now" is an answer?  A suggestion?  Seems to me to be an acceptance of 'the way the world of poetry works'  as 'natural', as well as a call to laugh at and find ways to negate anything that goes in the face of that acceptance, however passive or defended, even if it means calling fellow poets 'sidestepping thinkers' and making up bad bogus analogies as a put down ... 

Sheesh, indeed.

Amy King

Brooklyn and NYC people, please find an announcement below --

Jeff Newberry      jeff.newberry at gmail.com        
     Sat Apr 14 11:54:20 EDT 2007          
---------------------------------

Well said, David.  Well said.  Lazy thinking leads to easy dichotomies:
"edgy" vs. "accessible," etc.  That kind of labeling is simply a way to
sidestep thinking.

I can see it now:  Academy of American Poet Commandos storming bookstores
and burning copies of The Maximus Poems & Z & building altars to Ted Kooser
& Billy Collins.

Sheesh.

Jeff Newberry

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Unnameable Books <unnameablebooks at earthlink.net>
Date: Apr 14, 2007 2:50 PM
Subject: Unnameable Books: Contrarian April
To: Unnameable Books <unnameablebooks at earthlink.net>

  Dear friends of UNNAMEABLE BOOKS: 
  Because it is April, we will start this month's newsletter with a poem:  
  -----   
I DON'T EVEN KNOW IT   
-----  
Roses are rose   
and violets are violet.   
April is National Poetry Month   
and I am not a nationalist.   
-----  
  In order to most effectively protest National Poetry Month, we will be having a month-long sale -- 10% OFF!! -- all books that are UNRELATED TO POETRY OR POETICS. 
  To claim your discount on any such book, you must present a compelling argument that no poem has ever touched upon subjects or themes related to the book you wish to purchase.  I, Adam, am the final arbiter as to the validity of all arguments.
  ----- 
  In other news, totally unrelated to National Poetry Month, we have two readings coming up, both of which I'm personally excited about:
  ----- 
  1.   FRIDAY, APRIL 20, at 8 PM:  
  KATE COLBY, author of FRUITLANDS, has won a grand award for her book from the Poetry Society of America.  This has nothing to do with National Poetry Month, and everything to do with her excellent book FRUITLANDS, which is named after a 19th-century Transcendentalist utopian community co-founded by Louisa May Alcott's father -- and published by our neighbors over at Litmus Press.   As you may know, we at Unnameable Books have a certain fondness for both utopian communities and the following fragment of one of Ms. Colby's poems:
  ***  
  (Scene One) a crystal ball   
reveals only its own interior   
of transubstantiated sand,   
leaded, dead and circuitous  
  hocus corpus: here is my body  
  ***  
  So Litmus Press and we together are hosting a party, here at Unnameable Books, a party to celebrate KATE COLBY and her prize-winning writing of FRUITLANDS.   The author herself will make an appearance & a reading, amid the usual wine and cheese.   
  Please do come.    
That's FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 8 PM.  KATE COLBY.    
We like her book, and so does the Poetry Society of America.  
  -----  
  2.   
TAO LIN!  TAO LIN!  TAO LIN!   
On Thursday, May 3, at 8 pm,  
  TAO LIN, who's RED HOT, has TWO BOOKS coming out:  EEEEE EEE EEEE and BED.  
  One of them is a novel, and one a book of short stories.  According to a review in Time Out magazine, the novel is about Andrew, "a Domino’s delivery boy trapped in a bland suburbia populated by talking and teleporting bears, moose and dolphins that murder celebrities such as Elijah Wood and Salman Rushdie."  I guess that "Eeeee Eee Eeee" is the sound that dolphins make, but it's also the title of the novel.  The other book is called "Bed."  I have read Tao Lin's book of poetry and also his blog, and I can tell you this:  Tao Lin is young and RED HOT.  You will never forgive yourself if you fail to come to this reading.
  TAO LIN: Thursday, May 3, 8 pm.   
See his poem below.  
  -----  
  There will be more readings in May, June, July, August, September etc....Camille Guthrie, Erika Howsare, Shelley Jackson, Geoffrey Jacques, Tim Peterson, Sarah Riggs, Christopher Stackhouse, Jen Tynes, Lynn Xu  AND MORE!  will be visiting us.
  Watch this space for details:  
  .  
  -----  
  If you can't make it to our readings, you should visit the store anyway.  We have some other books here, too, some good ones.  I'll tell you all about them, if you ask.  
  ----- 
  All best to all,   
Adam (the unnameable)   
Unnameable Books   
456 Bergen St.
Brooklyn, NY
www.unnameablebooks.net   
unnameablebooks at earthlink.net   
(718) 789 1534  
  -----  
***  
 Unnameable Books  
[formerly "Adam's"]  
456 Bergen St.  
Brooklyn, NY 11217  
unnameablebooks at earthlink.net  
(718) 789-1534  
www.unnameablebooks.net  
***  
  Amazon, schmamazon -- order your books from the Unnameable!   
We'll give you 20% off, and can ship directly to you or your giftee.   
We can order any book in print, and ship anywhere in the U.S.  
  ***  

amy king 
    amyhappens at yahoo.com

    Sat Apr 14 10:33:08 EDT 2007    

---------------------------------
    Yeah!  Because anything written more than eight years ago has nothing to say to me ... or any of of us!  

Actually, the essay is still quite relevant, and unfortunately, Bernstein's sentiment hasn't been widespread enough, in any sense of the word ... I don't know who this "you" is who has "read it all before" as David notes, save poets on listservs who find themselves 'beyond' such thinking, but from I've seen, the poets who do call attention to the capitalist thrust of poetry, that which touts the sappy song of simple sentiment, and criticize it are too few and far between.    

Where is the indignant response of poets that calls attention to the very  machinery that only allows for the "major" publication of the stuff noted above and or anything "edgy" that can be easily absorbed?  The underbelly of the beast is that the poetry that doesn't suit the masses is ignored, not distributed, and even suppressed in some cases.  But I suppose it's passe to be angry about such things?  No one wants an angry poet anymore, right?  How old hat!  A poet that notes some injustice, in its multiple manifestations, in any effective way or has a  not-traditionally-life-affirming take will be largely ignored and denied the big prizes down the line, no matter how good at craft and dedicated he or she is.  The public beyond the poets' realm will never know ...   

Not since Ginsberg has there been a public poet that created ripples and tears in the cultural fabric ... can anyone think of another?  Angelou with her inaugural poem?  I can't recall; did that poem incite response?  Call attention to anything untoward within the culture?  Are poets in other countries still looked to for vision?  Consulted in public matters?  Respected?  Or are they second-rate pop idols we pin notes about on bus and subway banners now and then?  "That's a cute poem about the kid who lost his tooth ... my Timmy lost his tooth the other day ... I should copy that down!"    

It seems that poets don't want to appear disagreeable in the face of that money-making machinery anymore because we might not get a grant or a job or whatever is required for our livelihood.  Or we might appear uncool somehow if we agree?  So it's easier to mock or dismiss the naysayer, the one who doesn't go along with the machinery that makes and breaks the public function of poetry, a very tenuous position anyway, so why not go with the National Poetry Month flow - and get safe with it, remain insular, etc.?  

The cost is buying into the illusion of the promise of the capitalist machine -- you too could sell your poetry books in a BIG way once you write enough popular and pretty sentiment!  You'll earn your living making the reading rounds, raking in profit checks from book sales, etc. (good luck on that one) or you will tag a job at a nice university.  But, the model is similar to the pop music industry - and the poetry will be as watered down and much less popular/distributed than those songs and tours - and poetry will remain on its relegated fringe.  So what has your poetry ultimately done in the world when you're in that Billy Collins' position?  Yes, you've kept your mouth shut, affirmed popular sentiment, but what changes has your poetry made?  How has your poetry served the public-at-large?     

David Graham <grahamd at ripon.edu> wrote: 
Well, I'll venture one thought:  Bernstein's essay is very old news in several ways, starting with its copyright date:  1999.  But even if you missed it 8 years ago, you've read it all before.     ======================================== David Graham grahamd at ripon.edu Home Page: http://www.ripon.edu/academics/faculty/GrahamD/index.html Poetry Library: http://www.ripon.edu/academics/faculty/GrahamD/poetrylib.html 

==========================================       On Apr 13, 2007, at 2:16 PM, Suzanne Burns wrote:  Well, this is meaty:  http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/044106.html  

Money quote:  "National Poetry Month is about making poetry safe for readers by promoting examples of the art form at its most bland and its most morally "positive." The message is: Poetry is good for you. But, unfortunately, promoting poetry as if it were an "easy listening" station just reinforces the idea that poetry is culturally irrelevant and has done a disservice not only to poetry deemed too controversial or difficult to promote but also to the poetry it puts forward in this way. "Accessibility" has become a kind of Moral Imperative based on the condescending notion that readers are intellectually challenged, and mustn't be presented with anything but Safe Poetry. As if poetry will turn people off to poetry."   Thoughts?  Gleefully,  Suzanne Burns

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