Eratosphere Forums - Metrical Poetry, Free Verse, Fiction, Art, Critique, Discussions Able Muse - a review of poetry, prose and art

Forum Left Top

Notices

Reply
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Unread 01-11-2018, 06:35 AM
Michael Juster Michael Juster is offline
Distinguished Guest
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Belmont MA
Posts: 4,802
Default Yet more bad West Chester news...

https://twitter.com/amjuster/status/951427736740007936
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Unread 01-11-2018, 08:39 AM
Catherine Chandler's Avatar
Catherine Chandler Catherine Chandler is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Canada and Uruguay
Posts: 5,857
Blog Entries: 33
Default

Whom did they appoint, Mike? I can't see the announcement.

Edited: Oh, I see your recent reply. Jesse Waters.

Last edited by Catherine Chandler; 01-11-2018 at 08:51 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Unread 01-11-2018, 10:12 AM
Michael Juster Michael Juster is offline
Distinguished Guest
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Belmont MA
Posts: 4,802
Default

I've just gotten off the phone from a long conversation with the interim dean of WCU. I am extremely unhappy with that conversation, and the only glimmer of good news I have is that the person the interim dean hired is temporary through this year's conference.

If you care about the WCU conference, think about contacting WCU & telling them that they need to find someone committed to formal poetry to try to repair this new mess they created.

Last edited by Michael Juster; 01-11-2018 at 10:13 AM. Reason: adjective needed for precision
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Unread 01-11-2018, 10:53 AM
Quincy Lehr's Avatar
Quincy Lehr Quincy Lehr is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Posts: 5,478
Default

There are only so many times the school can f**k up the thing before large numbers of people stop showing up. I'm not going to say I'll never go again (after all, Sam got some of us back after the whole Kim debacle), but as my email as to what in the name of Jesus they expect to do with the Justice Prize (which I was set to judge), which lacks a publisher--kind of a big deal for a book prize--I have to wonder. [Edited—it was worse than I thought.]

Over time, one of the things that I've come to appreciate the way that Mike Peich set the thing up was that it had one foot in the academic po-biz and one foot in the non-academic parallel world of workshops, writers' groups, and reading series (the Powows, Carmine St. Metrics, etc.). I wonder if that will last.

Last edited by Quincy Lehr; 01-21-2018 at 11:59 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Unread 01-11-2018, 11:03 AM
Michael Juster Michael Juster is offline
Distinguished Guest
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Belmont MA
Posts: 4,802
Default

Quincy, you & I disagree on so many things, but I think we can safely agree that you & I--and almost none of us--appreciated Mike Peich's hard work & creative judgment as much as we should have.

I am not planning on attending.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Unread 01-11-2018, 11:41 AM
R. S. Gwynn's Avatar
R. S. Gwynn R. S. Gwynn is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Beaumont, TX
Posts: 4,748
Default

The Poetry House has been cleaned out to house temporary offices. All books and records of the Poetry Conference and Poetry Center have been placed in storage elsewhere at the university.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Unread 01-11-2018, 11:48 AM
marly youmans's Avatar
marly youmans marly youmans is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Cooperstown, New York
Posts: 277
Default

Michael, thanks for the alert. Very sorry to hear this--bad for the school and the conference. I've only been twice (under Kim's reign, once to be on a panel, once to run one) but enjoyed both meeting people and going to talks. And I know that many people love it and attend regularly.

Who do you think is the right person to contact to lodge protest and suggestions?
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Unread 01-11-2018, 01:36 PM
Richard Meyer's Avatar
Richard Meyer Richard Meyer is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 2,942
Default

West Chester Redux.

I've never attended the conference, but I have followed the machinations swirling around it in recent years. One version of an old maxim comes to mind: Don't worry about that dead horse, just keep loading the wagon.

Perhaps the wise course of action for poetic freight handlers is to cease in their efforts and just walk away.

Richard
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Unread 01-11-2018, 02:25 PM
Michael Juster Michael Juster is offline
Distinguished Guest
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Belmont MA
Posts: 4,802
Default

Richard:

I can't quite bring myself to agree or disagree---I'm torn.

Mike


PS everyone: I'm heading out shortly for a week off the grid, so please don't read meaning into silence. Thanks!
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Unread 01-11-2018, 02:26 PM
Susan McLean Susan McLean is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Iowa City, IA, USA
Posts: 10,090
Default

This is terrible news. No one who knew the conference at its best can do anything but regret its dissolution. Other conferences now compete for the poets who used to attend West Chester, so those poets are not left without any options. But the friends that I met at West Chester will not all attend the same conference in the future, so I cannot count on seeing most of them in any one spot. The size of the West Chester conference made for a wide range of panels and workshops, and I don't think any of the competing conferences can match it at that level. I still value the contact and exchange of ideas at a conference on formal poetry, so I will not give up attending one each year. That conference will probably not be at West Chester from here on. I will miss it.

Susan
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump



Forum Right Top
Forum Left Bottom Forum Right Bottom
 
Right Left
Member Login
Forgot password?
Forum LeftForum Right


Forum Statistics:
Forum Members: 8,399
Total Threads: 21,840
Total Posts: 270,802
There are 869 users
currently browsing forums.
Forum LeftForum Right


Forum Sponsor:
Donate & Support Able Muse / Eratosphere
Forum LeftForum Right
Right Right
Right Bottom Left Right Bottom Right

Hosted by ApplauZ Online