Pondering the Glut
How much can you eat before, well, before "you know what" happens?
No, I'm sorry, I don' t know what.
One of my favorite journals, The Boston Review, is showing once again why it’s one of my favorite
journals. Here’s a discussion between
Mike Chasar and Jed Rasula, where they’re looking at the culture of contemporary
poetry. So is the number of poets (the
glut! oh no, the glut!) good for the art form?
Chasar:
My gut reaction (you could maybe call it my glut reaction)
is to say that questions like “Is it a glut?” or “Is it a problem?” aren’t
nearly as interesting as questions like “Who is it a problem for?” and “Why do
those people think it’s a problem?” For critics like Burt, it’s a problem
because it challenges what it means to be an “expert” in American poetry. … how
can you be an arbiter of taste if you can’t read everything to pass judgment on
it? Insofar as the centrality of Official Verse Culture is affected by a period
of glut—where there is no longer an official center—then Official Verse Culture
has a stake in the matter.
Here’s the link:
posted by John Gallaher @ 11:47 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Oh, huh, "the glut."
Athens is finally looking like winter, by the way. All well where you are?
OK, I guess. Nothing interesting to report. I guess I'll start writing poems again at some point. I didn't like all that many books or albums from 2012. Here's to hoping for 2013.
Did you hear the Miguel album? The Solange ep is great but if you only hear "Losing You," that's ok too. I think I liked one song on the Calexico pretty well ("Hush"). And you put me onto "Duquesne Whistle," "Early Roman Kings" and "Ta Shunka Witco" with your Dylan/Hunter post, and thank you for that.
But you don't have to listen only to new things. I listened to a lot of old country, bluegrass, blues, gospel, big band and Bee Gees (CBGBGBBBG). And the Africa 50 box from Stern's, which was a holdover from last year.
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