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Yes the American move by Muldoon was indeed a disaster & strangely his knowledge of modern American culture was top class without going there. So in poetic terms he did not need America & would have suited another culture less alluring to him. But in the North of Ireland poetic stairway an Ivy League post is a career objective with one poet openly admitting it. The peace process has probably taken northern poets out of the spotlight with Seamus Heaney’s own life worth a political study or a few PHD’s. To have his level of fame was not easy in the shadow of the violence & it left him walking a tightrope.The career aspect goes with the life of a modern poet with very few writing autobiographical books which used be standard practice in times past. We hear all too little about modern poetry in Asia or South America or Africa which used be all featured up to the nineteen seventies into the eighties. The 1989 changes in Europe seem to have neutralised East European poets who often were dissidents or regime critics.Adonis indeed is famous with a big readership but no trace today of a Rod McKuen whose books sold millions of copies. No Leonard Cohen either or a Charles Bukowski in sight unless they exist unknown to me. “Coney Island Of The Mind” may well have sold a million copies but Lawrence Ferlinghetti when last I read of him had some bad vibes at the age of one hundred. No sympathy for the old when they say certain things or compassion for longevity in Lawrence’s case.A fair few years ago in 1988 while waiting for a guest poet at Dublin Airport another poet who had arrived earlier commented on an Irish poet. His words “he’s writing the same poem over & over again” came to mind on “the dark collapse into mediocrity”. It may be par for the course but if one reads a Collected Poems one often can detect a decline. Another view could be a recycling of material or simply lack of subject matter?In rock music many sixties icons burned out early after a few superb albums & singles but some did not break up. Many members died young leaving the survivors milk the vast nostalgia market decades after hitting their peak.It’s a strange situation that the billionaire celebrities are Kardashian’s & their appeal is global. Their rise to fame had elements of chance but also obvious talent.Kate Tempest is someone definitely making an impact & is well promoted. Pam Ayres is still with us & if the muse hits upon the Beckham’s we can expect poetry readings at Wembley or Old Trafford.Exciting prospects!BestSeanSent from AOL Mobile Mail
Get the new AOL app: mail.mobile.aol.comOn Tuesday, 19 November 2019, David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
SeanI like some of the early Muldoon but I think his moving to North America was a disaster for him as a poet. Of his later works Incantata is genuinely moving though diffuse while Madoc is an awful waste of a lost talent.one of the things I notice that bedevils current discussion of poets is the notion that they have careers of development on pseudo-academic-managerial lines, the truth is that most real poets have only a brief window, then a long dark collapse into mediocrity after.DaveMy pleasure Luke & yes Muldoon can cross the serious/popular divide with real skill. His venture of a travelling multi media show went down well with the public & not many could pull that off. Poetry readings without music or virtually empty venues or bad acoustics can be tedious for the audience.Collins does not interest me either all that much Luke but he has a big readership and he is well liked.Regarding chapbooks they are fairly easily produced without exorbitant costs while then of course there’s lulu.com. Many well known experimental writers have used lulu including Allen Fisher as lengthy works publishers fade from view. So focus on the viable option initially and someday a Collected will emerge. On getting grants I’m the last person to help gain some but many on this list have inside knowledge of obtaining grants. Patronage is another option not to be seen as an ancient form of obtaining money & commercial sponsorship may well be the literary future.Social media has PR value with some poets using Twitter & others Snapchat & youtube.com as platforms.On another divergence Geoff Ward on youtube is quite brilliant talking about the second generation New York School. I go in and out of liking that School with David Trinidad a personal favourite of the currents & Ted Berrigan from the past.Wishing you wellSeanSent from AOL Mobile Mail
Get the new AOL app: mail.mobile.aol.comOn Monday, 18 November 2019, Luke <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Thanks Sean> Collins or MuldoonCollins isn't to my taste -- at all, but I respect how Muldoon seems to work the serious /. popular divide.LukeA good question regarding the most famous living poet Luke and a tough one to answer definitely in 2019. On a Wikipedia page simply write your own but a chapbook may well suit before a Collected appears.I wrote since I was fairly young Luke but only came out of the closet in 1982 and none of my early work remains. Everything from 1981-1989 I almost have copies of but of course i lost poems along the way. The rest I have with me with some online if one googles & a fair amount is on my Facebook notes. A lot of these poems work in progress with a lot I find unsatisfactory requiring revision but I may never get around to it.The only published chapbook Free Range emerged in 2009 and received one review by the excellent Peter Riley*. It sold two copies plus whatever the publisher sent out to his then catalogue list from Spectacular Diseases Press. I have copies but they linger in a cupboard as I grew weary of giving out free copies or instead of sale book exchange. Nor do I know what value this stock holds in market terms as I have not checked going rates for Spectacular Diseases titles. I am unsure if SD still exists as a press and the book’s introduction is by Peter O’ Leary with an afterword by myself. End of plug & no self pity as we all get what we deserve.Main point with a chapbook promote & network & do regular readings none of which I did myself Luke. Make yourself visible on all poetic platforms & plug yourself at every opportunity. Fame will not come to you if you feel it is a direct result of publication & minnows matter little to the well known movers & shakers.On to fame and the most famous living poet? The passing of Mary Oliver & Toni Morrison showed their popularity and also Maya Angelou’s. In their own way all were internationally appreciated with excellent sales figures. At a recent high profile Irish media funeral Mary Oliver was quoted in a eulogy & I am unsure if Seamus Heaney was mentioned? If he was not it would indicate a shift in a small way but he still of course is widely celebrated.Simon Armitage is known but not famous in a global sense Luke nor indeed Carol Ann Duffy while of the experimentalists Jeremy Prynne certainly is famous. But in naming these poets I am of course being very Eurocentric or focused on these islands away too much. Billy Collins gets a lot of attention and indeed Alice Notley and Charles Bernstein but in decades past we could name poets from many nations as being famous?Have we become more self centred on our islands or is modern poetry less international? That is not your question but merely a reflection from someone who recalls the pre electronic poetry world. But you asked the question & I am trying to answer it & I will have to nominate Billy Collins. He sells well seems to have a solid following & excellent crowds at his readings. Another nominee is Paul Muldoon who has had a very solid career & in his recent mixed media tour he knows how to entertain an audience.Yet if Kylie Jenner or Kim Kardashian took to poetry they would sell millions of books & command advances to make Stephen King blush with envy. But my final answer is Collins or Muldoon Luke.I wish you well as always*Forthnightly ReviewCheersSeanSent from AOL Mobile Mail
Get the new AOL app: mail.mobile.aol.comOn Friday, 15 November 2019, Luke <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Who is the most famous living poet, now Heaney has died? Is there anyone? Does it matter if there isn't? Simon bloody Armitage? What does it even mean if there isn't any? Obviously there are degrees of it.I would be happy to have a book published. Others, a wikipedia page or collected poems. Some mainstream press obituaries..Just thinking about 'poets', a/ moment.Cheers,Luke
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