Thought this might be of interest ....
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Washington (CNS) - In a surprising twist on the administration's
economic stimulus plan, a proposal is being floated to include funds
for the purchase of poetry in the program.
According to White House congressional liaison aide April Narr, the
proposal is still under development, but it is conceived as involving
substantial grants to American poetry publications to pass on to their
contributing poets in payment for their work. "The working idea,"
said Narr, "is to consult experts to draw up a list of the hundred
best established poetry journals in the country, and give them federal
economic stimulus grants so they can pay their poets much more for
their work. The target figure is $1,000 per line."
Though some may question the effectiveness of trying to restart the
American economy by paying money to poets, Narr maintained that "the
whole idea of the economic stimulus plan is to get people to buy
things, and why should buying poetry be any different from buying
apples or toothpaste?"
Since poets are typically starving artists, Narr continued, they would
be likely to spend their increased revenues on basic foodstuffs, such
as bread, and usually being bohemian types they would also spend the
money on wine and cheese, making this part of the stimulus
"potentially of significant benefit to our nation's baking,
wine-making, and dairy industries."
Narr admitted, though, that there was some concern that the proposed
$1,000 per line payments might result in a proliferation of poems with
very short lines.
Asked if she herself is a poetry fan, Narr replied, "Yes, I am a great
fan. In school I got to recite The Bells by Edgar Allen Poe in a
pageant."
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Jon Corelis http://jcorelis.googlepages.com/joncorelis
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