Nthposition has just uploaded 13 poets for March, including Greg Santos, Jake Kennedy, Steven Waling, Matthew Gregory, Rachel Thompson, and Patricia Clark. I am handing over editing duties for half a year or so, starting with the June 2009 issue, to superb Paris-based poet Rufo Quintavalle.
When you open your mouth to speak, are you smart? A funny question from a great song, but also, a good one, when it comes to poets, and poetry. We tend to have a very ambiguous view of intelligence in poetry, one that I'd say is dysfunctional. Basically, it goes like this: once you are safely dead, it no longer matters how smart you were. For instance, Auden was smarter than Yeats , but most would still say Yeats is the finer poet; Eliot is clearly highly intelligent, but how much of Larkin 's work required a high IQ? Meanwhile, poets while alive tend to be celebrated if they are deemed intelligent: Anne Carson, Geoffrey Hill , and Jorie Graham , are all, clearly, very intelligent people, aside from their work as poets. But who reads Marianne Moore now, or Robert Lowell , smart poets? Or, Pound ? How smart could Pound be with his madcap views? Less intelligent poets are often more popular. John Betjeman was not a very smart poet, per se. What do I mean by smart?
Comments
I would be interested in producing a book review for Eyewear. If it is available, I am interested in reviewing: Thayil, ed., 'The Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets'.
I would also happily review more than one book if that were possible and of use to you.
You can contact me by e-mail at: emrayfo@gmail.com
I am based in Australia.
Kind regards,
Robert Geoffrey