[Orwn Acra]

If it were dead it would have greater power over the living.

[Rick Mullin]

Yes, and it's also true that if poetry were dead, people would pay top dollar for it.

[Jennifer Reeser]

Originally Posted by Rick Mullin

Yes, and it's also true that if poetry were dead, people would pay top dollar for it.

What an excellent point, Rick. Yes, it's worth pointing out that journalists have fallen out of favor and on hard times, when poetry might be looking awfully good to people as an alternative:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/403166/...ecord-low.aspx

Just 7% of Americans have "a great deal" of trust and confidence in the media, and 27% have "a fair amount." Meanwhile, 28% of U.S. adults say they do not have very much confidence and 38% have none at all in newspapers, TV and radio. Notably, this is the first time that the percentage of Americans with no trust at all in the media is higher than the percentage with a great deal or a fair amount combined.



Americans' Trust In Media Remains Near Record Low
BY MEGAN BRENAN

[Rick Mullin]

Thanks, Jennifer. As a journalist, it's nice to see the American public finally catching on!

[Julie Steiner]

Speaking of institutions whose public confidence has plummeted in recent years....

Originally Posted by Nick McRae

People who won a Nobel usually did so for a reason.

Yes, but not always for the reason we might like to think (i.e., artistic merit/significance).

Entrusting your reading list to a parochial, sex-scandal-coverup-tainted committee of eighteen Swedes—which only rarely includes poets among its honorees—is certainly an effective way to shorten your poetry reading list to a manageable length. But you'll be missing out on a lot of significant poets. Robert Frost was reportedly nominated 31 times and never made the cut, so I guess he's not eligible for the McRae Prize, either?

If you want to rely on prize committees to do your pre-screening for you, the Pulitzer Committee only honors Americans, but at least they pick a book of poetry to honor each and every year. Three per year, actually, since they also recognize two runners-up, one of which in 2019 was Like by A.E. Stallings, formerly a moderator of Eratosphere. She may indeed win a Nobel Prize someday, but don't wait until then to read her books.

[Nick McRae]

Originally Posted by Julie Steiner

Speaking of institutions whose public confidence has plummeted in recent years....



Yes, but not always for the reason we might like to think (i.e., artistic merit/significance).

Entrusting your reading list to a parochial, sex-scandal-coverup-tainted committee of eighteen Swedes—which only rarely includes poets among its honorees—is certainly an effective way to shorten your poetry reading list to a manageable length. But you'll be missing out on a lot of significant poets. Robert Frost was reportedly nominated 31 times and never made the cut, so I guess he's not eligible for the McRae Prize, either?

If you want to rely on prize committees to do your pre-screening for you, the Pulitzer Committee only honors Americans, but at least they pick a book of poetry to honor each and every year. Three per year, actually, since they also recognize two runners-up, one of which in 2019 was Like by A.E. Stallings, formerly a moderator of Eratosphere. She may indeed win a Nobel Prize someday, but don't wait until then to read her books.

Thanks for this.

I did pick up The Norton Anthology of Poetry this year to get some samples from writers like Frost.

The interest is there, but it's slow going as I spend a lot of time with non-fiction as well. Much more time with non-poetry books these days.