"The
first list: ' poets who talk most about L= poetry' is
not reliable: if Stead
ever has it is has been to mock it. (or do you mean we
'pursue a right
wing politics?)."
I meant that all the poets in the list I gave have
right-wing/conservative political views and/or a
record of taking right-wing positions. I fail to see
why this should be offensive to the poets mentioned -
Stead, for instance, has been only too happy to be the
public face of the right-wing education 'thinktank'
the Education Forum, to assert support Rogernomics and
to oppose electoral reform in public. I suppose he
might prefer to be called centre-right, but it's
certainly not outrageous to call him a right-winger.
"The next list is not very
helpful to you other than it is about as disparate a
bunch as you could
wish."
As I pointed out when I gave it! I was not exactly
trying to fill a hall of fame, though I am a fan of
all the poets mentioned. I am sure Philip has access
to all the standard anthologies and histories, I was
trying to throw in a few surprises (though of course
Smithyman would be a big part of any history worth its
salt). God save poets from the anthologists, I guess
I'm saying...
"Te Kooti: there's never been a published collection
of his
writings--I wish there had been. That he is a poet is
an invention of
Leigh Davis."
This statement is extremely annoying. Its arrogance
explains why your millionaire mate Davis' book, which
pillaged Te Kooti and Maori culture in the name of a
third-hand postmodernism, has pissed off so many
people here in Aotearoa. Davis didn't invent Te Kooti
as a poet - what gives you the nerve to even say that?
- he tried to assasinate him. Why don't you respond to
Tina Engels-Schwarzpaul's extended critique of Davis'
mess, which she gave the not-inappropriate name
'Between meaning and nonsense'? And if you were able
to crawl from the wreckage of your Eurocentric mindset
for a moment or two, you would be able to realise that
one does not have to publish with Oxford University
Press or be dismembered by Leigh Davis' word processor
to be a 'poet.'As it happens, many of Te Kooti's poems
have been published, and I have a folio of them I
would be happy to make available to Philip.
"Scott, since you are now connecting the University of
Auckland
English Department with poets who you say did (or did
not in
Michele's case) lock their doors while your mates got
their heads
cracked a couple of blocks away in the University
Admin. building,
and some people will know I work in the English
Department, let me
just say to all members of this list that the
insinuations are malicious,
unjust and have no basis in fact."
I have no idea whether you locked yourself in your
room, and I never said you did. What I do know is that
you, unlike senior English department figures in other
parts of the country, did not lift a finger to condemn
the actions of the police and the uni administration.
Nor, I understand, did you deign to join the junior
staff in your department who courageously tried to
fight a large funding cut that was threatening their
jobs. All of these criticisms are outlined in the open
letter that has been published in A Brief Description
of the Whole World. No one has questioned the factual
basis of these criticisms (critics of the letter have
instead focused on the relevance of a person's
political action, or rather inaction, on an asessment
of their poetics) but you are most welcome to give it
a go. If you can refute them, I will retract them. You
should base any attempt to refute them on what I
really say in that document, which you have had a
copy of for some months now, not on any imaginary
insinuations. Once again, I stress that I am not
trying to turn this into a witchhunt, but rather build
a useful discussion.
Cya
Scott
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Subject: Re: reply to P Nicolayev
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Hello Scott,
This is snake oil you'rr selling here.
Philip take no notice. The
first list: ' poets who talk most about L= poetry' is
not reliable: if Stead
ever has it is has been to mock it. (or do you mean we
'pursue a right
wing politics?). See my previous email. The next list
is not very
helpful to you other than it is about as disparate a
bunch as you could
wish. Te Kooti: there's never been a published
collection of his
writings--I wish there had been. That he is a poet is
an invention of
Leigh Davis.
Scott, since you are now connecting the
University of Auckland
English Department with poets who you say did (or did
not in
Michele's case) lock their doors while your mates got
their heads
cracked a couple of blocks away in the University
Admin. building,
and some people will know I work in the English
Department, let me
just say to all members of this list that the
insinuations are malicious,
unjust and have no basis in fact.
Wystan
>
>
> "This is very interesting. I have been New Zealand
> Poetry with great
> interest in the last weeks, and would appreciate any
> recommendations and
=====
"Why is it not possible for me to doubt that I have never been on the moon? And how
could I try to doubt it? First and foremost, the supposition that perhaps I have
been there would strike me as idle. Nothing would follow from it, nothing be
explained by it. It would not tie in with anything in my life... Philosophical
problems occur when language goes on holiday. We must not separate ideas from life,
we must not be misled by the appearances of sentences: we must investigate the
application of words in individual language-games" - Ludwig Wittgenstein
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