[Terese Coe]

"Most of us here are not MFA academics, and that would disqualify all of us most of the time in the eyes of the people who control these processes, and I don't think that's right. It's not just for the laureateships either--it's for fellowships, conference faculty positions and the like too."
--M. Juster

I agree, Michael--for too many reasons to go into here.

[Allen Tice]

RENTERS, this high traffic LOCATION is AVAILABLE for
Immediate Occupancy at very REASONABLE monthly rates.
Contact: A. Tice, proprietor.

----- Just one more fine business rental location brought to you
------------ by the powers that be at : TiceWords.com !

[William A. Baurle]

I've only heard of four people on this list of U.S. state laureates.

I was glad that the laureate for my state, AZ, is Alberto Rios (aka A.A. Rios).

I wanted to post an older poem of his, a great sonnet called Cinco de Mayo, 1862, but failed to find it online. It's included in Edward Field's seminal anthology of American poetry, A Geography of Poets.

[William A. Baurle]

Anyone ever heard of John Kay? According to Wikipedia, he "was a fifteenth-century English poet who described himself as the versificator regis (which would develop into the position of Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom) to Edward IV of England.[1][2] If it ever existed, none of his poetic work remains.[3]"

Strange!

[Janice D. Soderling]

Alberto Rios is one of my favorite poets. Otherwise I recognize only seven names through having read their work and several of them also are on my favorites list.

[Gail White]

I don't know that "name recognition" really means anything. It would be easy to compile a list of 50 poets, taken from Poetry Magazine or even from West Chester, in which I would recognize fewer than 10 names. That's because our name is Legion, and the number of our readers is Exiguous.

[William A. Baurle]

Originally Posted by Gail White

I don't know that "name recognition" really means anything. It would be easy to compile a list of 50 poets, taken from Poetry Magazine or even from West Chester, in which I would recognize fewer than 10 names. That's because our name is Legion, and the number of our readers is Exiguous.

Speaking of Poetry Magazine, I go to their website every other day or so just to browse, and every time I do I discover more and more poets (with awards and prizes up the yingyang) whom I've never heard of. It seems very strange then that in my 50 years I've still not met* a single other person who read and wrote poetry seriously. I've met various people who wrote a kind of poetry—mostly diary-entry type noodlings or lousy song lyrics, but NONE of those people actually read poetry.

*Well, except one: Zoila Ortega de Sandoval. And I married her!

Thus begins a tale of horror and woe I won't get into...

Now I'll look up Exiguous.

[Robin-Kemp]

"MFA academics" LOLOL

Try that one in an English Department meeting.

MFAs are treated as second-class citizens even though the MFA is a terminal degree. Just plugging the MFA, especially the studio-academic version, which requires research along with workshopping.

[R. S. Gwynn]

This is kinda old news, especially since she withdrew her name very quickly in light of the criticism. She may have been scorned for self-publishing and a slightly inflated cv. Still I found several of her poems online and enjoyed them. The problem was that Gov. Pat bypassed the usual Arts Council and somehow found a poet that was one of his political supporters (in a very minor way, to be sure). Some states still rely on the old Poetry Society memberships to provide laureates; other states, Texas included, use panels of other poets and past laureates to review the names. If I ever get to be PL of Texas, I will go out and buy boots and a hat, neither of which I have worn in public for 30+ years. This is just to say that there is little quality control among the states who have laureates. This is fine with me. It's a states issue.

[W.F. Lantry]

Originally Posted by Robin-Kemp

"MFA academics" LOLOL

Robin,

You've put your finger on a rather delicious irony, which I've given up trying to correct. There are some 'round these parts who, when they want to curse academic writers, use the term 'MFAs' as a kind of grand trope. They have no idea how MFAs are actually viewed inside the academy, or how they have to struggle for recognition and respect which, even if granted in public, is always withheld in private.

So the MFAs actually have a tough road: cursed by outsiders irrationally, and rejected by insiders just as irrationally. But some of the finest poets I know have MFAs.

Best,

Bill