Although I'm not a regular, I sometimes feel that this is a little club indulging in backpatting for, well, sometimes relatively minor accomplishments. The Wilbur prizes are, indeed, impressive, as would be any publication in, say, Poetry or Hudson Review. I guess that any form of publication is positive, especially for "formalists," but I think that we should set our sites on recruiting more accomplished members who would fulfill the label.
While Robert Mezey was fooling around here, this was an important forum, as it was when Tim Murphy was fronting for Anthony Hecht.
But, too frequently, we're patting ourselves on the back for racking up credits in relatively inconsequential journals. I don't want to sound like a snob (I'm not) but I would like to ELEVATE the word "accomplished." And I think that the best way to do this would be to recruit more accomplished poets. Where'd Mezey go? Why didn't we keep him? Why haven't we attracted other such accomplished poets?
Bob
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