In agreement with Peter about the risks of categorizing poets of
considerable depth and range.
Not sure that I fully comprehend what 'postmodern' poetry is. Does it
encompass language poetry, or am I conflating two differen't practices?
I have a general concern about overly theorized approaches to poetry, indeed
about any form of poetry that is not generally accessible, that is provides
no 'ins' for the reader. Work with depth of meaning necessarily avoids
paraphrase, but there is an important difference between a piece that
resists simplification and one that makes no sense outside of a particular
group of practitioners. Poetry is already close enough to becoming a form
of literary esperanto.
Being deliberately provocative can I suggest that in order to keep
everyone's feet on the ground poetry publishers should refuse to accept
manuscripts that do not contain at least one poem that could be read at a
wedding or a funeral. Let's, in a limited way, give the punters what they
want.
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Chris Vallance
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