Alison Croggon wrote:
>"The poet is the self who writes poetry. The link between the poet and the
>quotidian self is the body. The difference is poetry. Although one is not
>the other, it is impossible to separate them. Neither of these putative
>selves have anything to do, yet, with the idea of a reader.
>
>
Allison's essay sounds a little like Sharon's take on writing poetry to
a specific individual but with the understanding that the quotidian
selves are metaphor. Of course, only when the poem is out there do these
real selves transform into metaphor.
To me, this question of audience is more about writing process than
completion. And interestingly, it's tied (toed?) to those hemispheric
responsibilities too. The right brain is pushing out the unconstrained
words, without awareness of audience, and sometimes without awareness of
the "I" that is mechanically putting words on paper. Then once the
foundation, the motivating influence is depleted, the other half goes to
work, and it is this left brain that is writing/editing for audience. So
"audience" is the second half of the equation.
The talk about pandering to an audience hits home for writing that is
not-poetry. I am very conscious of my market & its demographics when
writing magazine articles. It's a necessity. I think in some ways it's
parallel to the visual artist who contracts with banks to paint murals
that will ultimately hang on the walls of that bank. The murals are art
by design. Art by outside catalyst. The audience comes first in this
equation.
Ann White
--
It is our duty to proceed as though the limits of our abilities do not exist.
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
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The Red Hibiscus http://theredhibiscus.blogspirit.com/
