Print

Print


Fully aware nothing ever stands still in the arts in a general way.
There will always be divides along with differences of opinion on what
poetry should consist of for us all. I favour chance operations going
with my thoughts rather than tailoring them when I write now. For me at
least craft is a real problem though of course one must structure the
text.

The past must not dictate the present yet it contains lessons for us
all without curbing moving forwards. Often one can misread or
misunderstand a poet and later revise the initial impact. I go through
phases of moving away from poetry but never leave it totally.

A big problem is something once said by a poet to me at Dublin Airport
in 1988 about some poets rewriting the same poem over and over again.
Often a poet's prose can give a good insight into their poetry with
Robert Creeley a classic case in point. His prose is more revealing
than his letters I feel in presenting the mind of Creeley.

On that note I wonder will letters be as important as they were in the
past? I find receiving a letter now is a novelty but still of high
value. Postcards always take me back to Joseph Cornell just like tweets
evoke the diamonds William Gibson offers on Twitter. I have no interest
in Gibson's novels but love his prose. The novel as a genre interests
me less and less but the memories of novels stay with me after decades.

None of us know how poetry will evolve but we must remain open to new
thinking.



-----Original Message-----
From: jim andrews <[log in to unmask]>
To: BRITISH-IRISH-POETS <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 09-Nov-2014 15:14:18 +0000
Subject: Re: Poets who wish to renew poetry by destroying it need to learn how to write poetry in the first place.

i wouldn’t presume to speak for the ‘conceptual poets’, but i don’t think it’s 
necessary anymore for a poet to be able to write poetry, no, just like it isn’t 
necessary for a visual artist to be able to draw. 

to me, poetry is where intensest engagements with language in art play out.

ja
http://vispo.com 

> On Nov 9, 2014, at 8:14 AM, Tim Allen <