he speaks to my soul!!! i recently got into poetry, and i remember a friend of mine who has a poetry book told me eerily something similar (that i was expressing my feelings, but not creating poetry) and also he's spot on about reading poetry will vastly improve your poetry (and your life)
I have to pick at Hirsch for his comments on the MFA program. There certainly seem to be more poets than there are readers of poetry, leaving MFAers to, basically, just be their own audience. That's a problem that spans out to the culture at large as well. But I don't think anyone in their right mind is using an MFA program for a living IN poetry. That's just not possible in today's publishing climate. In fact, I don't think it ever has been possible to make a living in writing poetry in America (the only author that comes to mind is Bukowski, who didn't live on a lot anyway, but even he had to give readings and write novels, as they paid better than writing poems). Making a living AROUND poetry is a different animal, and most MFA graduates seem to take up positions as professors, lecturers, and educators at the K-12 level. It's a bit of a semantic beef, but I think the two have to be distinguished from each other.
Edward Hirsch is one of my favorite poets. He's so wonderful!
May his legacy live on...
he speaks to my soul!!! i recently got into poetry, and i remember a friend of mine who has a poetry book told me eerily something similar (that i was expressing my feelings, but not creating poetry) and also he's spot on about reading poetry will vastly improve your poetry (and your life)
I have to pick at Hirsch for his comments on the MFA program. There certainly seem to be more poets than there are readers of poetry, leaving MFAers to, basically, just be their own audience. That's a problem that spans out to the culture at large as well. But I don't think anyone in their right mind is using an MFA program for a living IN poetry. That's just not possible in today's publishing climate. In fact, I don't think it ever has been possible to make a living in writing poetry in America (the only author that comes to mind is Bukowski, who didn't live on a lot anyway, but even he had to give readings and write novels, as they paid better than writing poems). Making a living AROUND poetry is a different animal, and most MFA graduates seem to take up positions as professors, lecturers, and educators at the K-12 level. It's a bit of a semantic beef, but I think the two have to be distinguished from each other.
this is interesting thank you!
Interesting.