Christopher, not much is my answer. On the negative side, poetry has just become further professionalized and marginalized. On the plus side, there is less onus on and more opportunity for competent poets who write in form. We still don't reach a general readership. No progress has been made in radio, our ideal medium. We have a new medium, the zine, and several good ones are published by members of the Sphere; but I suspect their readership is confined to their accomplished contributors. I'd also acknowledge that the development of the online workshop is a big step forward, allowing poets across the breadth of the Anglosphere to get to know one another. I know more fine Australian poets now than I knew Americans when Dana wrote his essay.
But the real issue is education. Until educators at the college level and even more importantly, at the high school level, learn to read, recite and teach poetry, to make it exciting, indispensable, there is little hope. That's why I think Dana's high school memorization and recitation program was the signal accomplishment of his tenure.
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