Someone mentioned Kenneth Rexroth and I wanted to say that Copper Canyon (www.coppercanyonpress.org) has just issued The Complete Poems of Kenneth Rexroth in an attempt to 'bring back' the work of this often overlooked poet, essayist, translator, etc. Rexroth was able to see beyond these conventional assessments and as a result he was not only able to bring overlooked work to attention but he became a mentor and 'saved the lives' of many young poets. For instance, Copper Canyon's founding editor, Sam Hamill, who has publicly on many occasions credited Rexroth for having saved him from addiction and jail and granted him the possibility of a life in poetry by taking the time to 'lock him up' in books. General dismissals of the poetry scene run the risk of dismissing the new and beginning and overlooked writer who may be very interesting, in potentiality if not in actuality, which is perhaps why it's just as well not to know where the avant-garde is since they often block the v!
iew.
Best,
Rebecca
Rebecca Seiferle
www.thedrunkenboat.com
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