But they do sell, and they do give a taster of poetry to people who
o'wise might not have read a range of poets.
Roger
On Mon, Apr 28, 2008 at 9:37 PM, judy prince <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Mark, I've always felt that anthologies---PC, Balanced, Proper, Subjective,
> Pricey---ought to be replaced by a reader/student's own poetic choices
> amongst the banquet of inexpensive paperbacks. A tradition of imposed
> aesthetic judgments (i.e., anthologies) demeans poetry, poets and---not the
> least---the readers of poetry.
>
> Judy
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]>
>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 3:16 PM
> Subject: Re: Perloff on anthologies
>
>
>
>
> Judy: In the lineup of poets she included in her
> course Hughes is a lightweight, however much one
> likes his work. Cesaire isn't. Context is all.
> Which is why anthologizing is so tough.
>
> Mark
>
> At 03:04 PM 4/28/2008, you wrote:
>
> > Ah, alas, Doug, leaving out Langston Hughes, one of my all-time
> favourites!
> >
> > Judy
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Douglas Barbour"
> <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 2:23 PM
> > Subject: Perloff on anthologies
> >
> >
> > In another interview, Marjorie Perloff has this to say; intereting in
> > light of Jon's comments:
> >
> >
> > DC: Perhaps what is lacking in most journals and anthologies is an
> > inclusionary approach to poetry and not one dependent upon being a
> > card-carrying member of a particular poetic group. Such a criticism
> > could be leveled against some of the experimentalists as well as the
> > mainstream.
> >
> > MP: Yes, but anthologies are, by definition, problematic today because
> > no gathering can be definitive and perhaps it's best to make up one's
> > own for teaching purposes.
> >
> > DC: If you were to edit a poetry anthology and the publisher has given
> > you total control over the anthology from inception to publication‹,
> > how would you choose what would be included? What would be the
> > governing principle that would hold the anthology together?
> >
> > MP: Well, I've never wanted to edit an anthology because I'm not sure
> > there's a good way of doing it at the moment: there are too many
> > schools, factions, movements, interests. But if I did, my criterion
> > would be VALUE. I would want to include only those poets whose work is
> > distinctive, original, really interesting, regardless of male/female
> > ratios, identity politics, and so on. So that's why I don't edit an
> > anthology. These days one must be sensitive to all the special
> > interests.
> >
> > In teaching (which is a bit like anthologizing, isn't it?), I do
> > relatively few poets. This year in "Modern Poetry" at USC, a 15-week
> > semester—I taught Eliot, Pound, Stein, Duchamp, Stevens, Moore, Loy,
> > Williams--and then Aimé Césaire even though in translation, because I
> > think he's a much stronger poet than, say, Claude McKay or Langston
> > Hughes and I did want to teach some African-American poetry. Notice I
> > omitted Frost and H.D. Simply a matter of taste: I never teach work I
> > don't really like.
> >
> > Doug
> > Douglas Barbour
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> > http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
> >
> > Latest books:
> > Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy)
> > http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664
> > Wednesdays'
> >
> http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-from-aboveground-press_10.html
> >
> > There are no wrong notes!
> >
> > Thelonious Sphere Monk
> >
>
--
My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
"She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
The Go-Betweens
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