tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14397387.post2696846617547757947..comments2024-02-19T19:45:32.122-05:00Comments on Poet Mom: AWP CountdownJanuaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13036651950996873368noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14397387.post-129755776235217962008-01-30T14:49:00.000-05:002008-01-30T14:49:00.000-05:00Quite similar in the US.Most is undecipherable tot...Quite similar in the US.<BR/>Most is undecipherable to<BR/>the public. But many open mic<BR/>crowds still love eloquent<BR/>narrative poetry and wit.<BR/>There is a big "Storytelling"<BR/>circuit which is much dramatic<BR/>prose. And a few "dramatic poets".<BR/>Audience overlap at hoots,<BR/>story/poetry.Jim K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16105117011358723753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14397387.post-61468683561432589752008-01-30T09:48:00.000-05:002008-01-30T09:48:00.000-05:00I seem to find and read as much poetry by women as...I seem to find and read as much poetry by women as by men. A lot of published poetry in the UK is very 'fashionable' - acclaimed by critics and poets writing similar poetry but not really appealing to the general public. At tne same time we have a lot of poets who work in a way more similar to musicians - they're out there doing gigs and recordings rather than publishing books. They're often the ones who have the increasing audiences.Crafty Green Poethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02486633917197181851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14397387.post-87087932279800445712008-01-29T14:30:00.000-05:002008-01-29T14:30:00.000-05:00Men submitting more agressively certainly sounds m...Men submitting more agressively certainly sounds more likely to me. I have heard research to the effect that men in any field go about it in a more business-like way than many women. For instance, there are hardly any male quilters, but those who do go into that field take it very seriously as a career and seem to find ways of making money at it, which most female quilters never do.<BR/>So I would certainly agree with the advice to get plenty of submissions out there (now I should just take my own advice)Catherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08236329216260906624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14397387.post-4586920073992393062008-01-29T10:55:00.000-05:002008-01-29T10:55:00.000-05:00Hi January...belated digging.Re: gender effects......Hi January...belated digging.<BR/><BR/>Re: gender effects..<BR/>..I researched it a bit.<BR/>There are many entries, especially<BR/>women editors talking and taking<BR/>stats from their own selections.<BR/>They just about all say they pick<BR/>merit not gender. But some remark<BR/>on the much larger number of male<BR/>submissions. Often, the distraction<BR/>of child-raising is mentioned, but<BR/>the link isn't clear....<BR/><BR/>I will take a risk and propose a<BR/>theory: I see many great female<BR/>poets becoming editors. I have<BR/>not tallied, but it seems more<BR/>editors are women than men are<BR/>editors. And editing is very time-consuming work. I wonder sometimes if many of the best<BR/>women poets find their energies spent in the service of other poets. This would have a <BR/>counter-intuitive effect, where<BR/>the widespread efort to make <BR/>things more even results in <BR/>inequities in the submission<BR/>numbers (on top of maybe other<BR/>trends: males submitting more<BR/>agressively has been ventured<BR/>by the women editors).<BR/>The inequality would be stronger<BR/>for the 'best' women (if the word<BR/>best can ever be used in poetry!),<BR/>blunting the top honors.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, there are a lot of efforts<BR/>at gender balance, and the stats<BR/>mainly show piles of male <BR/>submissions. If were a woman<BR/>with early signs of success<BR/>(like yourself), I would therefore<BR/>focus on more submissions, <BR/>according to that theory, and<BR/>try to stick to just being a poet<BR/>for a while if more success comes.<BR/><BR/>I don't submit much myself, so<BR/>this sort of scolds me. It's an<BR/>aggrevating activity, with high<BR/>rejection rates for even the best<BR/>(heh...best..). But since poetry<BR/>is always personal with the reader,<BR/>ringing all the doorbells in town,<BR/>once you have a large, quality<BR/>reserve, seems like a way to get<BR/>somewhere.<BR/><BR/>If "Best American Poetry" is an<BR/>ultimate goal, I suggest you<BR/>analyze different years carefully:<BR/>they might as well be different<BR/>planets. There can be no more <BR/>powerful demonstration of how<BR/>personal poetry selection is than<BR/>the history of BAP selections,<BR/>and the different editors.Jim K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16105117011358723753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14397387.post-5291558965413894172008-01-29T01:37:00.000-05:002008-01-29T01:37:00.000-05:00January, I counted the number of women poets in my...January, I counted the number of women poets in my Poetry Daily anthology and came up with around 136 of a total of 366 poems (though one or two male poets had more than one poem). No doubt I missed some women where the name was possibly unisex or had initials only. I don't think that's so bad. In New Zealand although we have some wellknown male poets, five of the six poetry books in the book awards last year were by women poets. I think that's dangerous. Any occupation that becomes dominated by women starts to become devalued - nursing, teaching. I gather that in Russia most of the doctors are women, and that it is a lower status occupation there for that reason.<BR/><BR/>As for poetry books - I read lots of poetry for instance Poetry Daily every day, but a) I don't have much spare cash for books and b) sometimes when I buy poetry books other than anthologies, I find myself a bit overwhelmed with a lot of poetry by one author. (On the other hand, one poem by a particular author in an anthology often leaves me wanting more).<BR/><BR/>Poetry has a huge future but poetry books as such are probably more at risk from the internet than novels. It's a lot easier to print out a poem that you like than to print out a whole novel (though when I do buy books, I buy poetry books, and borrow the novels from the library - I'm sure I'm in the minority though)Catherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08236329216260906624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14397387.post-77505732900567803172008-01-29T00:24:00.000-05:002008-01-29T00:24:00.000-05:00Jana,My thought is not that there aren't more poet...Jana,<BR/><BR/>My thought is not that there aren't more poets but maybe it is just the decrease in printed material in general. Anyway, not a poet but that is just my thought.<BR/><BR/>Please have a fantastic time at your conf and give JoJo a big smooch from me.<BR/><BR/>My confession is up, btw.<BR/><BR/>LOVE!Goodnight, Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01188093753876297741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14397387.post-26276686789460785482008-01-28T14:15:00.000-05:002008-01-28T14:15:00.000-05:00Dozens of niches, hundredsof journals, tens of tho...Dozens of niches, hundreds<BR/>of journals, tens of thousands <BR/>of blogs. It is fractured but<BR/>fractal. The experimental and<BR/>pseudo-random hold a lot now,<BR/>but the narrative/real-things is<BR/>returning. I don't know how<BR/>AWP sorts out... should be very<BR/>interesing. A lot got surprised<BR/>at no day-of tickets.Jim K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16105117011358723753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14397387.post-5089671030428107952008-01-28T13:27:00.000-05:002008-01-28T13:27:00.000-05:00Have a great time, January! I "tagged" you with a...Have a great time, January! I "tagged" you with a writing-prompt if you get a chance once you're home and settled in again. Good luck to you at the AWP.<BR/>Love,<BR/>D.Left-handed Trees...https://www.blogger.com/profile/06057727021295729384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14397387.post-51526392425714723602008-01-28T12:24:00.000-05:002008-01-28T12:24:00.000-05:00Yeah, well. This is why I decided to self-publish...Yeah, well. This is why I decided to self-publish. I don't have the time or the patience anymore to swim upstream. And I think I am a pretty fair poet. Most people don't really care. Some other poets, maybe.<BR/><BR/>Have fun!Joyce Ellen Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13494251587598676788noreply@blogger.com