[New-Poetry] Big Bucks in Poetics

[David Graham]

I'm not sure where in the Constitution it covers the position of Poet  
Laureate, but as I've noted before when this subject crops up, the  
position is not funded with tax dollars.  It's a private endowment,  
administered by the Librarian of Congress.

I would guess that virtually no poet lives on royalties.  Even Merwin  
has over the years brought in a lot of his cash via readings,  
translations, and such.  I'd be surprised if he actually lives on  
book sales per se, but I could be wrong.

If you count readings, conference appearances, contest judging,  
editorial work, and other ancillary activities, not simply book  
sales, I would further wager that quite a few American poets could  
live quite well off their art without tenured teaching gigs.  Donald  
Hall has been doing it for decades, to cite one such instance, and so  
has Robert Bly.




========================================
David Graham
grahamd at ripon.edu

Home Page:
http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/About%20Me.html

Poetry Library:
http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/DGPoLibrary.html
==========================================



On Dec 17, 2007, at 5:49 PM, R Dillon wrote:

>
> This fact may have been posted already but there is one poet only  
> who not only
> lives off of his book sales and royalties but has always done so,  
> plus, he is not
> a member of any academic faculty or has any job other than being a  
> poet.
>
> I know that this is the case because this fact was disclosed in his  
> presence and
> he made no move to contradict or clarify it.  And, he has a real  
> agent who handles
> the business.
>
> Also, he seems to me to be one of the few that is utterly qualified  
> to be U.S. poet
> laureate from a Constitutional perspective.  Perhaps, because he  
> has succeeded in the free marketplace on his own terms without  
> compromise, he would not be a reliable advocate for those who don't  
> look at things this way.
>
> Merwin
>
> It did make wonder how many poets are able to live off their  
> royalties, or
> have royalties enough coming in that loss of some portion of those  
> monies
> means the difference between getting the roof fixed or having to  
> put a bucket in
> attic? Re: Can't Cope With Copyright Infringement (JforJames at aol.com)
>
> R.D.
>
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