Just peeking in on all this, from an attack of eccentric sleeping patterns, but if I can give a few pennyworth (which is about all
I'm worth these days):
a (or x, as preferred) ) I have long received an impression that US poetry these days comes across as being dominated by a
collegiate derived tonality which stems from the pulling power of the MFA programs. That is not to say that impression is correct
nor, most certainly, that writerly foci do not exist outside that ambit, it's just the picture that comes across.
b(or h) ) that picture is no more depressing than the 'professional poet' scene in the UK (which comes over as meaning a kind of
strange cartel of people who sell hardly any books but earn a living from 'being' full-time poets although most of them would rather
write novels)
c (or j) I can emphasise with the points made about how pub poetry can be depressing but I demur at the notion, if suggested, that
it is because pubs create a male dominated smoke-heavy environment that is against mothers. I'll recall that, if it is what is being
implied, next Victoria (mother of seven) and 5" 3' tall, walking frame included, decides to rip off my shirt in the pub after her
twentieth fag and eighth pint so she can punch me on the shoulder or nearly cause a riot by telling the local heavy mob that they
are a load of w*nkers to their faces, I'm sure she'll be philosophically interested in the concept of her being intimidated by pubs.
All the Best
with an insomaniacal smile
Dave
David Bircumshaw
Spectare's Web, A Chide's Alphabet
& Painting Without Numbers
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
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