I remember first hearing the term New Formalism in the 1980s and writing to Dana Gioia, saying it sounded nutty to me. Ever since then I have consistently, in print and in conversation, expressed my reservations about it. Nonetheless, edit one anthology.... So it goes. I'm for strong technique, real vision--all the things poets have always been for, I guess, and I still find it dismaying when New Formalist poets are discussed as if they were a monolithic movement. Having made a few generalizations myself over the years, I'm getting think generalizations are odious. The proof of the validity of any poem is usually the poem itself. Do I contradict myself? Very well then, ...
[This message has been edited by David Mason (edited June 22, 2003).]
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