[James Brancheau]

Never mind.

[R. S. Gwynn]

James, this was curated by National Public Radio during National Poetry Month.

I am not from Texas. I do live there.

Also from Lorde's speech: "Difference must be not merely tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic"--which is exactly the contradiction that Quincy was addressing re. "the master's tools."

Lorde responds, with good and ample cause, to a specific situation from 40 years ago. I do not think, in general, that academic conferences are so restrictive today, and I'm glad they aren't. However, I'm also glad that I don't have to attend academic conferences anymore.

[Julie Steiner]

I think it's worth pointing out that this was part of the weekly Code Switch segment on NPR, in which journalists of color highlight other people of color--in this case, poets. Presumably, a different NPR program would take a different approach to the topic of National Poetry Month.

Accusations of racism, anti-Semitism, and homophobia have caused the founders of the hugely successful 2017 Women's March movement to part ways and hold separate marches in the same cities on the same day in 2019. I doubt that they are attending each other's conferences, and I don't expect the situation to improve by the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment next year. That's the situation of disunity that I had in mind when I said that Lorde's speech is, sadly, still relevant.

[R. S. Gwynn]

Terrance Hayes, who has been publishing sonnets recently, may be a good resource. I'll look for an interview.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/pod...uture-assassin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0rkty4SpFk

[R. S. Gwynn]

I should note that Gerald Stern wrote a collection called American Sonnets 15 years ago.

[James Brancheau]

I like Gerald Stern. Saw him read in college and he claimed to have never eaten McDonald's.