Some thoughts after an open mike...

Aug 16, 2012 13:59

In the beginning of his book, Buffalo Head Solos, Tim Seibles writes the following:

AN OPEN LETTER

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cross post, politics, publications, theory, poetry

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ursule August 17 2012, 16:17:22 UTC
I had not observed a dearth of political themes in literary-establishment poetry.

(I'm also immediately hostile to any passage that conflates science and objectivism, so take my grumping with a grain of salt!)

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hooks_and_books August 17 2012, 22:12:38 UTC
Can you point out some political poems that you've recently read in literary-establishment poetry? How about in non-literary establishment poetry? I'm curious, but I also admit that I only have access to a limited number of "established" (read as academic) journals and magazines, so if there are places out there publishing political and/or social work, I'd love to know about it!

How about you? Where have your political and/or social poems been published?

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ursule August 17 2012, 23:07:47 UTC
Works of two famous poets who come to mind because I went to their readings: Natasha Trethewey writing about race and New Orleans, and Matthea Harvey's Future of Terror/Terror of the Future sequence (which is rather sf-nal).

I've been pursuing academic publication more consistently than poetry publication, of late; my most recent published poem was a bisexual love poem in Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, which I suppose might fall under the "personal is political" rubric.

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Good stuff.... hooks_and_books August 18 2012, 19:49:57 UTC
I am vaguely familiar with Tretheway's "Beyond Katrina," which isn't poetry but still is politicized writing. I'll have to check out Harvey...

I know these poets are out there, because Philip Metres ("Abu Ghraib Arias" and "Ode to Oil")and Adam Hughes ("Uttering the Holy"), who inspired this post, both have politically charged poems which have been published in academic outlets, but only a few, and I'm wondering why not more.

"a bisexual love poem in Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, which I suppose might fall under the "personal is political" rubric."

I think, if you look at the poem that Renegade Zombie linked to below, you'll find that love is always political. I'd like to read more love poems in academic journals. What I'm reading seem like unedited, fragmented diary entries and celebrations of intellectual ramblings, so I want to know what magazines to peruse, where to find these poems, what academic magazines are focused on the political and not the navel-gazing, etc.

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renegade_zombie August 18 2012, 15:49:07 UTC
"A Poet Is Not a Jukebox"
by Dudley Randall

http://allpoetry.com/poem/8574675-A_Poet_Is_Not_a_Jukebox_-by-Dudley_Randall

Number of these specific 2011 topics about which I have written: Zero

Number of these specific 2011 topics that I will probably address in a future poem: Zero

Degree of responsibility that I feel to address these specific topics in a poem: Zero

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hooks_and_books August 18 2012, 20:03:25 UTC
I like the poem, and I get the point, though it's amusing that in refusing to write a political poem, Randall uses politics as his defense. My point was not to shove quarters (or dollars, as recent visits to the bar will attest) in the ears of poets to have them spit out the tunes that I like, but to understand why these topics are being ignored in favor of others. Randall makes a totally legitimate argument about love poems, and I would really like to see more love poems (and erotic poems) published by academic magazines, too ( ... )

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