tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16051148.post114665491593800224..comments2024-01-21T04:43:03.895+00:00Comments on The Cat Flap: The Charm FactorUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16051148.post-1147339962070052882006-05-11T10:32:00.000+01:002006-05-11T10:32:00.000+01:00Voices from the margins (of culture, of the poetry...Voices from the margins (of culture, of the poetry world, whatever that is) are what I'm talking about as outcast and necessary. A voice that isn't pitched toward a "readership" can sound fresh. Inwardness, talking to oneself as if no one else were listening and will ever listen can be wonderful. Lorine Niedecker's early calendar jottings sound like this, and I return to them just to hear that quality. And Roy Fisher can have that sound too. And style originates there, doesn't it? As for viruses? I don't know--more washing of hands?? !!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16051148.post-1147290037395249552006-05-10T20:40:00.000+01:002006-05-10T20:40:00.000+01:00Oh I don't know. If the dictionary definitions of ...Oh I don't know. If the dictionary definitions of 'charm' are anything to go by (the power or quality of pleasing or delighting; attractiveness; A particular quality that attracts; a delightful characteristic) I wouldn't have thought Fisher's poems without charm, especially '3rd of November, 1976'. I certainly don't see any reason why he should be an 'outcast'; he doesn't seem infected with the worst symtoms of the post modern virus. From Peter's examples he seems necessary alright, necessary and quite charming really.Mark Granierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09899629187771913398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16051148.post-1147251068569231312006-05-10T09:51:00.000+01:002006-05-10T09:51:00.000+01:00I think what Schmidt is getting at, and what Klein...I think what Schmidt is getting at, and what Kleinzahler has said before in various settings, is that there is a world, an invented world, call it the Po Biz if you like. And that world values first who you know, where you went to university, and what publisher and prizes you claim. The quality and originality of the actual writing, and the fact that these are what, I hope, brings us to poetry in the first place, are obscured by other stuff. Neglible stuff.<BR/>I don't think Roy Fisher could ever have enjoyed the readership that Heaney has. No way. The general public is not going to run out and buy a collection containing poems like the one in your posting. The Blackbird of Glanmore it ain't! Which isn't to say it isn't a wonderfully bitter and precise observation from an outcast voice. A necessary voice. Without charm.Alice Lyonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09149881276794766242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16051148.post-1146869476297737712006-05-05T23:51:00.000+01:002006-05-05T23:51:00.000+01:00Are the most popular poets really that 'charming' ...Are the most popular poets really that 'charming' though? Is Heaney? Is Hughes? Was Larkin? Billy Collins might fit the bill (the bittersweet humour, the whimsicality), though I've greatly enjoyed his work. Funnily enough, Larkin may well have agreed with you. I seem to recall him yearing for those (mythical?) pre-war years when poetry was regarded, by many as something slightly disreputable, like jazz, the kind of thing you hid under your pillow or played to a few select friends.Mark Granierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09899629187771913398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16051148.post-1146671278399471002006-05-03T16:47:00.000+01:002006-05-03T16:47:00.000+01:00Yes, agree with your points. Poetry needs to court...Yes, agree with your points. Poetry needs to court a readership. It might be an interesting initiative to seek co-operation with regional newspapers to place poems by some of the published poets in a re-occuring column that could be accompanied by some "introduction". This might give people the confidence to open a book in the first place. Just a thought. <BR/><BR/>Kind RegardsAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03194645813782269802noreply@blogger.com