Jesse, I don't think most folks object to KH because of his critique of
literary politics, but because he behaves like an asshole.
jd
On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 4:39 PM, Roger Day <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I've mt Kent nice guy, the archive contains my thoughts about his
> performance. meh
>
> On 4/13/08, David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > I'm not too sure if it's a good idea to have a go at Kent in pastiche
> > Augustan verse: the implications of writing from a position on the
> > high ground of a socially hierarchical morality would just give him
> > another target.
> > Like a lot of people, I've often felt confused by Kent, at one point I
> > used to wonder if he was a made-up identity, especially as 'Kent
> > Johnson' is a lesser used alternative to John Doe. Well, it seems he
> > does exist (people I know have met him) , though there is a certain
> > air of fabrication, of being patched together, about the poems under
> > his name that has the feel of a collaborative effort.
> > I get the impression that he makes an over-simplified equation between
> > perceived hierarchies of status in poetry and those in society in a
> > whole - although it does seem true that some poetry, some poets too,
> > has (have) a position in the world that is linked to the power
> > structures that obtain in our lives, its not true all round, or in
> > such a simple way as it seems Kent believes.
> > That he too appears avid for a place high on the ladder he perceives
> > is ironic - I guess part of his success is in that he reflects the
> > fascination with 'making it' that poisons the arts (which ain't new).
> > Having said that, there are truths in his railleries, point in some of
> > his attacks. I can think back to Kenneth Allott's 1960 Penguin
> > anthology of recent British poetry which gave the impression that, a
> > few token women and some grammar school males apart, it was a
> > necessary to have gone to a public school followed by Oxford and
> > Cambridge in order to qualify as a poet. Nowadays things are not so
> > obvious, but I certainly can think of some established poets I've
> > encountered in recent years who would never have 'made it' if they
> > hadn't known the 'right' people (I am naming no names!): when you meet
> > someone with a national reputation who informs you that 'villanelle'
> > is a technical term used by poets you know that something is very very
> > wrong somewhere.
> > (Mind you the other year I heard a novelist talking on radio who
> > didn't know of the terms first and a third person narrative. I ain't
> > making that up.)
> >
> >
> > On 12/04/2008, Roger Day <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > > Kent Johnson. Meh.
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sat, Apr 12, 2008 at 12:27 PM, Joseph Duemer <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> > > > This book is an outrage. I am.
> > > >
> > > > jd
> > > >
> > > > On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 10:26 PM, Jon Corelis <
> [log in to unmask]>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > This book is an outrage. I'm not in it.
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > ===================================
> > > > >
> > > > > Jon Corelis www.geocities.com/joncpoetics/
> > > > >
> > > > > ===================================
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Joseph Duemer
> > > > Professor of Humanities
> > > > Clarkson University
> > > > Weblog: sharpsand.net
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
> > > "She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
> > > She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
> > > The Go-Betweens
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > David Bircumshaw
> > Website and A Chide's Alphabet
> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
> > The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
> > Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
> >
>
>
> --
> My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
> "She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
> She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
> The Go-Betweens
>
--
Joseph Duemer
Professor of Humanities
Clarkson University
Weblog: sharpsand.net
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