Jeffrey,
If I'm remembering accurately, Todd Swift voluntarily retired from Poetryetc, largely
because his attempts at discourse were met with ridicule. Not precisely an instance of
what Robin describes as "being huffed off because the consensus judgement of the list is
that you're a Bad Thing . . ." I didn't think TS was a "Bad Thing" and probably didn't even
respond publicly to any of his posts. Privately, I found it an exhibition redeemable only
by camping on it. At that time, he probably should have limited himself to posting his
own poems; his literary criticism and theory let him down by comparison. Unlike the
formidable examples of fellow Canadians Christopher Dewdney, Christian Bok, and
Darren Wershler.
Barry
On Mon, 8 Mar 2010 15:30:08 -0500, Robin Hamilton
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Geoffrey $ide said:
>
><<
>But, Barry, you know it's very easy to get kicked of list like this, so
>that's not saying much.
>>>
>
>Actually, it's quite difficult to get *kicked off* petc. (Being huffed off
>because the consensus judgement of the list is that you're a Bad Thing is
>another matter.)
>
>The only occasion I can remember when there was a positive orgy of purging
>here was in the wake of The Great Kent Johnson Heteronym Fiasco, and that
>was sort of a special case.
>
>At the point that it reached six list members down and counting, I began to
>seriously worry.
>
>What would life be like without VB?
>
> Robin
>
>(I voluntary withdrew from a list once.
>
>It was an academic list.
>
>I got a backchannel from a fellow listmember saying plaintively, "Really,
>Robin, I'm not *quite as stupid as you make me out to be."
>
>Kid you not.
>
>It was over an argument that turned on the proper spelling of the Johanine
>Gospel, and I thought it was all a bit of a joke.
>
>Didn't realise that the poor sod's job was on the line.
>
>After that, I decided to try to be nice to people I met on lists.
>
>R.)
>
>______________________
>
>On Mon, 8 Mar 2010 15:53:52 +0000, Barry Alpert
><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>>I can remember when Todd Swift was a member of Poetryetc. It was
>an amusing
>>spectacle--his unconvincing "opinions" got him laughed off the list.
>Check the archive.
>>
>>Barry Alpert
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