[Quincy Lehr]

Ocean Vuong isn’t very good. A MacArthur grant doesn’t alter that in either direction. However, for all that poetry, particularly of the non-Instagram variety, is a niche market, it is nevertheless worth thinking about the effects of big money (at least relatively so) on the art. Namely, one gets a group of endowed arts administrators, moneyed failsons and -daughters who were too dumb for management positions at the family racism factory, and maybe even a couple of practitioners of the art in question together. The foundation is presumably not the main thing they do, but they want it to remain “relevant,” self-sustaining, whatever. Thus, they tend to want not to be outliers, to make a decision at odds with the others. There is, inevitably, a great deal of metagaming.

It makes the arts more faddish, especially since it’s an easy hook to hang a news article on, and it means that the same people tend to sweep the major awards.

I can’t get that angry about Vuong winning a “genius” award, though. It’s just too funny.