Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Slater
I said nothing about "forcing" it on anyone. In fact, I have no idea what you mean by that. I don't go out of my way to collar everyone I meet and tell them I'm a poet, nor do I actively try to bring it up in conversation. But if someone asks me if I'm a poet, it would be dishonest of me to say that I'm not, given that I have spent decades of my life writing and publishing poems, and I'm about to publish a book that dares to claim it has poems inside. Do you think I should I demur and say, "No, I am a writer of poems, but I'm not actually a poet"? Or is that also too immodest, since who am I to say that what I've written are "poems" in the exalted sense you insist upon?
You're a poet, too. Own it.
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Right, I'm not arguing with your point, just adding to the conversation. If someone asks me if I write poetry, sure, totally normal to tell them.
My addition (not argument) is that like any other vocation, it's not really normal to advertise stuff like poetry to the general public, or people you don't know well. Unless you're specifically trying to sell poetry to an already existing audience. So this is likely why many keep some level of secrecy, in the same way a doctor wouldn't go around introducing themselves as a doctor.
But FWIW, I don't think poetry is as disrepected as you imagine. I've run into plenty of people who were impressed. But like any other vocation or occupation, opinions will vary.
In North America I think we
can be a bit anti-intellectual, as opposed to cultures in Europe. Which likely speaks to why Cohen was so successful over there, but had a hard time breaking into the U.S..