It’s been brought to my attention that the tone in my last post came across as a bit…offensive. I’d like to clarify that I understand a lot of poets contribute to the literary community in many different ways—whether it’s financially or otherwise. I appreciate the variety of ways that many of us work to strengthen our poetry community.
That said, at the time I wrote the last post only **four** poets had pledged for this fundraiser. I know what probably amounts to 100+ actively writing / publishing poets and it seemed…offensive…to me that more couldn’t take an interest in supporting Poets House.
Knowing as many poets as I do, and frequenting literary conferences and book fairs and belonging to list serves, I am exposed to a kind of mantra that comes from the contemporary collective: “no one reads poetry,” and “no one supports the arts.” At the same time, having grown up as a member of a politically radical community, I hear from the other end that poetry is a ‘bourgeoisie art,’ and that it’s for wealthy intellectuals who have the leisure to indulge in it. Consequently, the imbalance of participation in this fundraising project struck a sour note with me…
It just felt overwhelmingly hypocritical to me when this institution, who is working very hard to advocate and preserve the writing of my peers, can't even get $10 out of them in return. Poetry becomes a ‘bourgeoisie art’ when we rely on the bourgeoisie to support us. Most poets I know aren’t rich, but they can all afford to spend what doesn’t even amount to a night at the bar on something in support of their own artistic community. I said earlier that I’m not pointing fingers, and I meant that. Everyone lives their own lives and while I try to stay cognizant of what’s going on in contemporary poetry I’m sure many people do many things that I am completely clueless about. I hope no one took my comments personally.
I’m probably just getting really agro as a result of the massive steroid injections I’ve been taking.
(joke!)
That said, at the time I wrote the last post only **four** poets had pledged for this fundraiser. I know what probably amounts to 100+ actively writing / publishing poets and it seemed…offensive…to me that more couldn’t take an interest in supporting Poets House.
Knowing as many poets as I do, and frequenting literary conferences and book fairs and belonging to list serves, I am exposed to a kind of mantra that comes from the contemporary collective: “no one reads poetry,” and “no one supports the arts.” At the same time, having grown up as a member of a politically radical community, I hear from the other end that poetry is a ‘bourgeoisie art,’ and that it’s for wealthy intellectuals who have the leisure to indulge in it. Consequently, the imbalance of participation in this fundraising project struck a sour note with me…
It just felt overwhelmingly hypocritical to me when this institution, who is working very hard to advocate and preserve the writing of my peers, can't even get $10 out of them in return. Poetry becomes a ‘bourgeoisie art’ when we rely on the bourgeoisie to support us. Most poets I know aren’t rich, but they can all afford to spend what doesn’t even amount to a night at the bar on something in support of their own artistic community. I said earlier that I’m not pointing fingers, and I meant that. Everyone lives their own lives and while I try to stay cognizant of what’s going on in contemporary poetry I’m sure many people do many things that I am completely clueless about. I hope no one took my comments personally.
I’m probably just getting really agro as a result of the massive steroid injections I’ve been taking.
(joke!)
Your apology accepted, but I know at times things can be very frustrating and we can all fly off the handle and say things out of character. I can emphasise with you completely about how difficult it can be to get even a paltry contribution for a worthy cause. Also the amount of times I too have heard "no one reads poetry" or "no one buys poetry".
ReplyDeleteHats off and a round of applause to you for all your good work.