Dear Geraldine,
I am going to try to address in another post some of the concerns
Peter raised, and you mention here too. I would like to say here only
that I did not tick you or anyone off for raising local or specific
concerns. I have profound respect for the local and specific. I
welcome members raising local and specific concerns and ask only that
it is done in a civil way, mindful of the fact that members of the
list live all over the globe, and that, in many ways, we are speaking
to people we do not know well here, despite our common poetic
interests. In addition to respect for an audience whom we do not know
that well, I think it is worth keeping in mind that posting to the
list is a form of publication and that the list and archives are
publicly accessible.
Mairead
On 8/27/05, Geraldine Monk <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Sunshines,
>
> Hard to resist Peter's rallying call of 'your country needs you'. How we
> women have progressed from our role of 'Lie back and think of England'. But
> thanks to all who wanted me to return. But I'm not sure if my return is
> permanent.
>
> I wasn't doing a Gloria Swanson melodramatic gesture when I said ta-aa. I
> was sensing, like Peter and Tim, that the very nature of the list seems to
> have changed and no one had told us.
>
> Hence the chagrin at the ticking off from Mairead for bringing up specific
> local concerns which affect all poets living in Britain. And then Rupert's
> barely disguised contempt for the very poets and poetry that this list was
> set up by and for. We can read myriad articles and prefaces pouring
> contempt on our heads. To get that from the listservers of a list
> purporting to be for 'us' was not only hurtful but rather disrespectful and
> puzzling. We all appreciate and value some of the truly excellent work done
> through community arts projects but this was never meant to be a community
> arts discussion list. And of course we welcome the world if the world wants
> to listen and join in, not even a tenuous connection to Britain or Ireland
> is required just an interest in the poetry.
>
> My original post has brought in some excellent replies and discussion. Nima.
> Great post. And thanks for bringing back the young//old element which had
> been central to my original beef but got lost in the ethnic do-dah. And I
> laughed like a drain at Jimmy's fundamentalist conclusions on good/bad
> writing, demonstrating how wonderfully slippery language can be.
>
> But yes I think we do need a clarification that this list is following it's
> original intentions or if it has changed we should be informed then we can
> take an informed decision to subscribe to a list which no longer has our
> interests at heart.
>
> Cheers,
> G.
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> Geraldine Monk
> www.westhousebooks.co.uk
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