Okay. I've been trying to think what I want to write about here and so far I'm still not very inspired except to say that usually when I say that I'm 'not very academic', I mainly mean that I am not functioning or speaking from within an academic context. Unlike most other poets I know, I do not have an MFA and do not necessarily aspire to one; I haven't been entrenched in academe since my undergraduate years which came to an end in the mid 90's--and although I had a largely enjoyable and positive undergraduate experience, somewhere in the intervening years, I've come to think of academic entrenchment as being somewhat insular and exclusionary.
Of course, a lot of things are insular and exclusionary in their own ways.
However, when it comes to the contemporary poetry scene, even though it's a pretty multifaceted and diverse scene, I have sometimes found myself feeling excluded from certain conversations (or maybe not so much excluded as just not as privy to them) due to my somewhat non-academic background. Certainly, I am well-read when it comes to poetry and even poetry criticism and theory and such, but sometimes it seems like if I want to take part in certain dialogues then I have to purposely assert myself or insert myself into those dialogues and occassionally I worry that this insertion may be unwelcome because I am not coming from a certain background or a certain community or a certain network or whatever. Then too, that could just be my own neurotic insecurity rearing its silly little hydra head or tentacles.
Also, perhaps semi-related, I sometimes find myself feeling strangely 'in-between' in that even though I don't identify as an academic poet, I also don't identify as an 'outsider' poet. Then again, I'm sure most poets feel in-between or misfit-like or misplaced in their own ways. Not many people love labels, after all, right?
One thing I really like about the online poetry community, which I have become increasingly involved with in the last five years or so, is that it serves as a sort of equalizer in such regards, in that any poet can attempt to make her voice heard throught the channels and forums of her choice and I think that persistence in such regards will eventually pay off, or at least it has for me. Of course, even the online poetry community is exclusionary, as it is excluded to those with an internet connection, a personal computer, and a certain luxury of time.
More on this later.
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just so's you know, i'm looking forward to this, so you better deliver.
ReplyDeleteOh no, I was just about to delete this placeholder, but now I have to write it!
ReplyDeletei don't think persistence alone would pay off (although it would be an interesting experiment to write the worst poetry you could possibly imagine and simply relentlessly work to see it in print) but i do think that persistence has a lot to do with it.
ReplyDeleteconversely, i think some poets, writers, and members of all other professions skate by on talent alone without really putting in much effort. i'm afraid i'm closer to this end of the spectrum. also, i'm just not very successful.
writing within academia is good if you want to be an academic, which i suppose i do. i hope this doesn't compromise my street cred, but if it does, then so be it. gotta pay the bills, and those of us who can't, teach, supposedly.
i respect your poetic opinion much more than that of many of my profs and colleagues, some of whom barely write anything that isn't specfically for an assignment. and they read even less. i think you probably know more about the scope of modern poetry than a lot of people. too bad you don't write academic litcrit, you are probably the most qualified.
Lately, I've been thinking a little about going back to school, actually. Whether or not the world of academe is insular and exclusionary and unrealistic, it has to be better than the 'real world', at least in these economic times. I can't even seem to get a part-time job at the library. Egads.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading/commenting, even though my entry might have been a bit half-assed. I seem to be a tad burned out when it comes to blogging. Alas.