> his (and others) professorial greed

I'd meant to stay out of this exchange but as one Old World Ecosocialist
to another I'm annoyed by this phrase. Andrew Motion's being a professor
has nothing to do with the issue, if there is one. 'Greed' is a vice we
O.W.E.s are bound to disapprove of but does a reading fee of 200 quid
really qualify? There's too much real & quite nasty greed about: let's
not waste a strong word.

The underlying issue, I'd say, is that poets generally set out to write
words on pages but it's come about that they're mostly PAID to stand up
and 'perform'. I don't mind that myself, but it's an odd situation and
it means that reading fees are not quite what they seem. It's not that
we're being paid for half an hour's voice exercise but for god knows how
long shut in our rooms with whatever writing implement. So the odd
reading cheque now & then would have to be rather a large one to qualify
as over-payment.

Of course, other & more interesting consequences follow from the writer
vs performer bifurcation but they're another matter.

O.W.E.: what a nice acronym.

Alan



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