James,
There is a recent phenomenon in poetry that trumps by far any
"overpublishing" that poets may be doing in the more traditional venues
and forms:
Blogs.
Mind you, I have no problem with them, for the most part, and some are
often educational and entertaining to read. But if one is concerned with
cases of graphomaniac self-show and promotion in the poetry world, this
is really where to focus one's attention, it seems to me. What are
twenty-one books next to the endless scrolls of text, publication
announcement, diaristic narcissism, and self-photographic display on the
hundreds and hundreds of Poet-Author blogs?
Someone is going to write an interesting book one day on "Poetry Blogs
as a Sub-Species Mutation in the Evolution of the Author Function." To
be published by an academic press and offered to committee by an
Experimental poet for his or her tenure, no doubt...
Yes, some of us old-fashioned types stubbornly stick to listserves for
the flaunting of our egos...
Kent
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