Let's be real for a moment. All academic fields
are so small that only neophytes don't know most
of the players. I'm a non-academic, but I was
able to identify immediately two of the three
anonymous readers of my Cuban anthology
manuscript. It's also not unheard of for a member
of a peer-review committee to tell a friend or
student that he's on the committee and this would be a good time to submit.
That said, contributing editors aren't a
peer-review committee. Their function is to lend
prestige by simply being listed (and many never
do anything beyond that for the publication) and
to keep their ears out for what they think is
interesting work, tho they are never the only
source the actual editors rely on.
You seem to expect a degree of objectivity that
humans are rarely capable of. I'm not convinced
that it's even desirable in a journal. This one
will develop its own character. Let's see what that is before we jump on it.
Mark
At 12:09 PM 10/22/2009, you wrote:
>My guess is that the honorifics are there on purpose. They are making a
>statement. They may be removed now that critical attention has been
>brought to them. But it's the lack of anonymity of the peer-review board
>that concerns me. Robert should have decided what was more
>important: the honorifics or the sanctity of the peer-review process.
>
>
>
>
>On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:14:30 -0400, Mark Weiss
><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> >Black Mountain was hardly a formally organized
> >institution, particularly in its last few years,
> >when Olson was called in to oversee its demise.
> >There were at that point about a hundred
> >students. But it's the Black Mountain College we
> >remember as poets. Even in its rum days it
> >neither sought nor received accreditation.
> >
> >I'm acutely aware of the impact of the
> >academicization of poetry in the US. It's been an
> >unmitigated disaster. But that wasn't caused by
> >the existence of academic journals. Let's se what they turn out.
> >
> >The inclusion of titles in the board list is a
> >bit comic opera, but let's blame it on a
> >beginner's mis-step. We should wish the
> >enterprise well, and maybe in that spirit let the
> >editor know that he should drop the honorifics.
> >
> >Mark
> >
> >At 10:58 AM 10/22/2009, you wrote:
> >>One of the big dangers is definitely the codification of practice, and
> >>I am with Jeff on this. This has happened to some extent with 'avant
> >>garde' poetry in the States and it has certainly happened to art here
> >>in the art colleges - they do not set good examples. Once the
>products
> >>of creativity get into that loop it is very difficult for them to
> >>disentangle. We all want good teachers and good teaching but all too
> >>often good teachers and good teaching get lost in the systems and
> >>bureaucracies with their other demands and agendas. The need to
>get a
> >>'qualification' or certain letters after your name has in the past not
> >>been the same as the need to create originally. You need freedom
>and
> >>focus. At times this has been given by creative people living and
> >>working together - the typical artistic group or milieu or movement.
> >>And sometimes of course in glorious isolation from any such thing.
> >>Cases of such things coming from formally organised higher ed
> >>institutions are rare - Black Mountain would be one of those rarities.
> >>I'm not being romantic about this, I think I am being realistic.
> >>
> >>Individuals, such as Robert Sheppard or whoever, are able to fight
> >>against codification, but systems and organisations cannot. Or at
> >>least, they cannot within the context of modern capitalist society.
> >>
> >>Tim A.
> >>
> >>On 22 Oct 2009, at 15:01, Jeffrey Side wrote:
> >>
> >>>Sean, I'm not against academic journals if they are about the study
>of
> >>>poetry rather than concentrating on how it should be written etc.
> >>>And I
> >>>get the feeling that this journal may lead to this, having read some
> >>>of
> >>>Robert‚s theories on practice. Only time will tell, however.
> >>
> >>Announcing The Whole Island: Six Decades of
> >>Cuban Poetry (University of California Press).
> >>Forthcoming in November 2009.
> >>http://go.ucpress.edu/WholeIsland
> >>
> >>
Announcing The Whole Island: Six Decades of Cuban
Poetry (University of California Press).
Forthcoming in November 2009.
http://go.ucpress.edu/WholeIsland
|