Poetry News For January 26, 2007
Poetry News:
- If you’re going to be a surgeon, and you have poetry in your heart, you’ll be a better surgeon —
- Chancellor’s Lecture Series presents Jane Smiley on reading, writing and creativity [has video] —
- I initially believed Okashita-san was a woman, because his tanka are very gentle —
- Google plots e-books coup —
- Europop goes from bad to verse —
- Why did you ask writers to focus on “responding to women writers”? —
We put 250 napkins in the mail to writers from all over the country
(Napkin in the American sense of the word haha. Thanks to Sandra Novack for the link.)
Tags: Jane Smiley, Lucille Clifton, Nanora Sweet, Poems, Poetry, Poetry News, poets, tanka
SarahJane responds:
Posted: January 27th, 2007 at 4:06 am →
Hi -
As much I like Lucille Clifton’s poetry and intention, the idea that having “poetry in your heart” will make someone a better anything, besides a poet, strikes me as completely absurd. Poets and readers of poetry fail at things just like anyone else, and just as badly. I do think poetry enriches life, but it didn’t make Charles Bukowski a better factory worker, or Sylvia Plath a better mother. Plain idealizing, in my opinion.
best, sarah