[Michael Juster]

Usually, I have no interest in the poets reading at the famous Grolier series in Cambridge. Occasionally, they get Jorie Graham and Diane Wakoski, but usually it is the Graham/Wakoski wannabes--kinda like getting drunk listening to an Elvis impersonator. However, James Fenton is coming April 20 and I will be there for the first time in years. Why, you ask? C'mon, go ahead and ask!
Well, one of the favorite pasttimes of the West Chester folks is speculating/lobbying for the next guest star. I like to consider myself above such politics, but will confess to having participated in a small and successful charge for Joe Kennedy a few years ago. About that time I started hearing--generally but not always from Dana Gioia--the name of James Fenton as a possibility, which, of course, made me feel illbred and nonacademic since I didn't have a clue as to who he was. Quickly, I established he was British and a journalist/poet, but past that it was hard because his books don't seem to sell here. However, when I was in London last month I finally found one----"The Memory of War and Children In Exile: Poems 1968-1983". While not as bad as, say a typical Molly Peacock book, I was disappointed. I would be curious as to what others think and whether anyone can educate me about his later work.

[Len Krisak]

Mike,

Fenton's not really all that bad at all, but there are some poems I simply don't understand. In short pieces, with a heavy use of monosyllables, he can achieve a ballad-like feeling while taking on hair-raising subjects (war, terror, etc.)

His books are available in the U.S., by the way. I have two (including Children of Exile), both bought at the Borders in Chestnut Hill.

Best,

Len

[Tim Murphy]

Michael, Dana published a sprawling critical assessment over the course of two issues of the Dark Horse, but his conclusion confuses me: "The foremost British poet of our generation." Hey Dana, what about Wendy Cope and Dick Davis? I've read various Fenton poems over the years, usually mildly amusing and having some technical competence. Wendy adores him as a friend, but is he worthy to carry her luggage? Barely. However, he is Professor of Poetry at Oxford, succeeding Famous Seamus in Auden's siege prestigious. And he has raked in some $3 million in royalties as scriptwriter and lyricist for Les Miserables. He became a darling of the left by writing left-wing communiques from southeast Asia, and he was photographed riding into Saigon (or Phnom Penh?) merrily perched atop a Commie tank. Go figure.



[This message has been edited by Tim Murphy (edited February 11, 2001).]