The outsider artist Rizzoli wrote things he called poemshayings. While they had a longer line and
rhymed and were about his mother and little girls, perhaps these compare to the poessay as it is
practiced by Daniel.
Here, especially in the large bookstore chains, the poetry section is a meet market (meat market?), and
one has to wade through various men to get to the books. The (larger) history section has nothing like
this crowd, which could very easily be sold books. And yet, poems are not marketed to these oafs, and
they just stand there. The readings are mostly poetry, and students and writers fill the cafe, but are
there poetry books nearby? No. The readings are far from the buried poetry stacks and the cafe is
stocked with self help books. Are there any poetry gift books near the register? No, the cute pocket
sized books with pretty drawings have bible quotes or lines of fiction or blather in them, for reasons
I can't fathom.
I will say, as far as teaching poetry writing goes, that at least in LA, writing classes and reading
attendance are really pushed in AA, NA, and all of the various recovery programs. I feel that this is
can be appropriate as story therapy or introspection, but the focus is on a coherent narrative, the
self, emotion, and religion.
The long narrative poem is something that the new formalists/Dana Gioia have adopted as a new cause
here in the US, hence the recommendation of Vikram Seth, I haven't read Gertrude Schnackenburg's Throne
of Labdacus yet, and I add Robinson Jeffers, although I cannot personally recommend his poetry, placed
in oppostion to the Notley poem and any number of long poems written by the LANGUAGE crowd, some of
which are not epics but autobiography, etc. Jorie Graham, Materialism. So long poems written in form
about masculine myths sell. Long poems written by Anne Carson are popular, although these are cross
genre. They are poessays but use mythos as well.
Dana Gioia's answer to poetry vocation was, "write a polemic essay that sets you up as an expert, start
a "school" of poetry, take over a cultural org. and go". He tried with translation and the Nicholas
Roerich, but that wasn't as effective as Jeffers and poetry matter. Anne Carson seems to say, be cross
genre and prolific, be personal, and don't challenge too many received ideas. I liked Jill's idea of
the poetry interest inventory. I have taken a lot of those! and a lot of personality quiz things. I
never get told to be a poet by them, though.
What are epics, exactly? In the broader sense, they do not have to be about myth, or heroes, or
religion. I think epic is often defined too narrowly. They are about some cultural moment, usually
one that points up a polyvalent value or cultural belief. "Terminator, the poem" would certainly
sell. I like the idea of a non-mythical, feminist epic decidedly not about history. It could have
more than one writer, since it would no longer be starting from an oral tradition.
Rgds,
Catherine Daly
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