I want to apologize to the list for my hissy fit yesterday and appeal to
Peter Howard, to whom I've already apologized back-channel, to return to it.
We need Poetryetceteras of his quality more than ever now. This list is just
the latest venue for Kent Johnson's "performance art," and maybe it will
make my own actions more understandable (though not excusable) if you know
that for me it's the third such list. But because, it's Poetryetc, which is
very special to me, I overreacted to both his provocation and the judgment
Peter Howard seemed to be passing on me without even having read all the
relevant posts and discovered that the "mail bomb" action was merely a bit
of counter-performance art undertaken in hopes of getting Kent to leave the
list voluntarily, which he did briefly and semi (under only one of the two
e-addresses he was using by then).
If he felt encouraged to return yesterday, it could only be due to the
continued willingness of some listees to engage with him, front-channel or
back, and while I wish that wasn't the case we are all free to talk to
whomever we please obviously. And if some of the very same Poetryetceteras
whose BRITISH-POETS posts were hijacked for publication by Kent without
their permission as part of his performance on that list are still inclined
to tolerate his antics here, it's not my place to say they shouldn't. Nor,
after bailing managerially on them yesterday, to take issue with Alison &
Chris's decision to remove only David Hess (the sit-com spinoff of the KJ
act, as I see it anyway). In my opinion, Kent will have to be removed sooner
or later anyway because that's what he wants, and if he stays true to form
(going by his "program" on those other two lists and how virtually identical
his current one appears to be), he will pursue that goal relentlessly here.
Needless to say, I hope he proves me wrong. Last night, after being asked by
Alison to back off--a request reinforced in a b-c message of my own--he
reportedly pestered listees back-channel with self-pitying missives of the
"gee Officer Krupke" sort, but these too are part of the performance and
will feature in the eventual publication he'll get out of it, no doubt. This
is what he does, along with getting himself displayed in published
interviews, for publication.
The "warning" part of my subject heading relates to something besides Kent
per se, though. We are beginning to pick up subscribers from the
Subsubpoetics list in the wake of its near total collapse (I gather, having
left it myself weeks ago), a collapse for which Kent can't be exclusively
blamed but to which he almost certainly contributed. While I liked and
admired many of the Subsubpos I encountered as a listee there, they did tend
to have a far more aggressive socio-discursive style than we're used to at
Poetryetc and that list tended to be much more tolerant than this one of
front-channel personal abuse ranging from the dyadic
attack-and-counterattack to the multi-listee free-for-all. Which is just to
warn you of what may ensue here if the numbers drifting over from Subsubpo
are sufficient for an effort to remake the Poetryetc public square in the
image of that other one. Whether such an effort, if made, will succeed is
really up to you.
As for me, I'm going to stick around (and many thanks to everyone who urged
me to stay in spite of my huffing and puffing yesterday!), but in lurk mode
until I get through some ordeals in my non-virtual life that have left me
less than fit company online and off-. All the best to you--and watch your
backs now!
Cheers,
Candice
|