[New-Poetry] Big Bucks in Poetics

[Suzanne Burns]

Whoa, never mind, I take that back.  My memory at this hour must be fogged
by insomnia.  I found that article, and the estate is estimated to be
currently worth 3.5 million.  Yowza. And yes, Frieda and Carol are at war
over it.  Sad.

Suzanne



On Dec 20, 2007 1:34 AM, Suzanne Burns <atelierjewelweed at gmail.com> wrote:

> Actually, it was a remarkably small income stream considering the
> notoriety of the author. I wish I could remember where I read the final
> figures on the value of the Plath estate-- it was considerably less than
> what one might imagine.  Hughes himself lived fairly modestly.  This was
> always part of his strategy, and it was also Plath's while she was alive--
> spend little, save your acorns, and focus on your writing.  During her life,
> Plath wanted most of all to write full time and frugality was always second
> nature to her (no Burberry or Chanel for her, in other words).
>
> I don't know where Frieda Hughes is getting her Burberry, but she is
> having some legal problems with Ted Hughes's widow over her share of the
> estate which I believe was only about 200K-- not a shabby figure for sure,
> but hardly a big whup as far as estates go.  Regardless, I think we can all
> agree that Hughes did not make his living solely from his poetry.
>
> Suzanne
>
>
>
>
> On Dec 19, 2007 4:03 PM, Christopher Kelly <chris.kelly at nyu.edu> wrote:
>
> >
> > Also, sales of Plath's work in US produced a significant revenue stream
> > for TH.
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: David Bircumshaw < david.bircumshaw at ntlworld.com>
> > Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 2:17 pm
> > Subject: Re: [New-Poetry] Big Bucks in Poetics
> > To: "NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News &amp;  Views" <new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu
> > >
> >
> >
> > > I think the problem in this matter occurs where a fair number of
> > > people
> > > make careers out of having /status/ as poets, and thereby gaining
> > > grants, residencies, lectureships etc as their main source of income.
> > > So
> > > the focus becomes not writing well but acquiring a validated (by
> > > whom?)
> > > membership of a profession without accountable standards, formal
> > > qualifications, objective measurements of credentials, unlike doctors,
> >
> > >
> > > teachers, lawyers etc, or demonstrable and agreed standards of
> > > proficiency, as in  serious theatre or music. It's like Freemasonry in
> > >
> > > being both public and reclusive but unlike Freemasonry the methods of
> > >
> > > acceptance into the fold are unknown, but certainly this focus on
> > > 'making it' weakens the standards of writing.
> > >
> > > Btw I think Hughes also relied on his income as a farmer to some
> > extent.
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > > David Bircumshaw
> > > Website and A Chide's Alphabet
> > http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
> > > The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
> > >
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>
>
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