A choice example of the sociology of taste. I believe Dana Gioia, James Billington,
Charles Simic, and Kay Ryan are responsible for this line-up:
POETRY
Sponsored by National Endowment for the Arts
Eavan Boland
Dan Chiasson
Elsa Cross
Michael Lind
Michael S. Harper
Molly Peacock
Stanley Plumly
J. Allyn Rosser
Kay Ryan, Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for 2008-2009
Since I've never witnessed Eavan Boland, I'm going to try to catch her act (partly for the
Stanford connection). Otherwise, I'm more intrigued by Salman Rushdie and Richard
Price, though I'm unsure who made the choices in that range:
FICTION & MYSTERY
Louis Bayard
Geraldine Brooks
Sandra Brown
Marisa de los Santos
Philippa Gregory
Andrew Klavan
James McBride
Brad Meltzer
Richard Price
Francine Prose
Peter Robinson
Salman Rushdie
Alexander McCall Smith
Actually, I'm much more interested in two films by The major Portuguese director Manoel
de Oliveira being shown tomorrow and will sample writers before, between, and after the
screenings, especially because the filmic & literary possibilities are geographically
convenient.
As for the aesthetic governing the selection of poets, Librarian of Congress James
Billington sums it up simply:
"[Blank] writes easily understandable short poems."
Barry Alpert
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