[R. S. Gwynn]

The poet Ai, who wrote many memorable dramatic monologues, has died.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai_(poet)

[W.F. Lantry]

Sam,

Thanks for passing on the news. But darn! This isn't good. I met her briefly when I was in Boston. She was pleasant, and full of life and energy. I always admired her work.

Sad news indeed.

Thanks,

Bill

[Janice D. Soderling]

Thank you for posting this news, Sam. I wonder why so few write dramatic monologues nowadays? Maybe because they are so hard to write, maybe because "confessional" is passe for many.

I'd like to pass on this link as well.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/arch....html?id=80637

Edited in: I neglected to add my admiration of Ai's work. She is truly a role model.

[Ned Balbo]

I always admired her. I had the chance to teach workshops for two summers at the New School & used Vice, her selected poems, as one of the texts. I remember "Go," her amazing poem in the voice of Mary Jo Kopechne & her monologues in JFK's or Hitchcock's voice. There was a touch of Spoon River in the way her characters, especially the famous ones, spoke from beyond the grave. A real loss.

[Carol Trese]

Ai! She is one who turned me on to poetry. A remarkable reader and writer, teacher...oh this news does sadden me. She is an early poetry sister in my life.

Oh, Ai. You were one of the very coolest.

[R. S. Gwynn]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/bo...ref=obituaries

[W.F. Lantry]

From the article Sam linked:

Writing in The Times Book Review in 1976, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Louis Simpson described her work this way:

“What separates poets from mere versifiers is a quality of feeling based in experience. This is why the poems of Ai, for example, make the poems of most of her contemporaries seem like kid stuff.”

High praise from a strong source; accurate and well-deserved. Alas!

Thanks,


Bill