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Fascinating interview. Well-done and thanks to both of you.
There were many passages that had me stopped in my tracks to ponder, but this one caught me by the throat:
Useful poetry is not better than useless poetry. I only feel the need to say this because there is an assumption, in some academic circles, that poetry that does something—helps with the grieving process, serves as a political act, teaches some social virtue, etc.—is somehow better than poetry that does nothing other than be poetry. People who think that poetry should have some “real-world” practical effect are, curiously, coming down on the side of the “trade-school” view of universities, the one that dismisses the liberal arts as useless. Many of my favorite poems are simply beauti-ful. Take a look at Frost’s “The Silken Tent,” for example.
Hear! Hear!
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Interview on "Useless" Poetry
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