Resisting the Intelligence (Alex Bleecker facilitates)
Often likened to Billy Collins and criticized by academics as seeking to ‘dumb down’ poetry, acclaimed poet and critic Tony Hoagland has always been an advocate of making/keeping poetry accessible. Worried that poetry is becoming over-entranced with artifice, Hoagland actively campaigns against the trend in contemporary poetics to obscure direct meaning and emotion.
Tony Hoagland
To begin the Nov. 9th Living Room circle, we will listen to an interview with Hoagland from the Poetry Magazine podcast, wherein he laments what he refers to as the “the poetics of vertigo” – a move to create intentionally disorienting poetry. This, Hoagland argues, represents a shift in poetics from the heart to the head. We’ll discuss the interview and perhaps hold such a lens up to our own poetry. Hope you can join us!
Bring new work for a gentle critique by those gathered, read the work of someone else, or come just to be in the engaging company of other writers. $5 suggested donation keeps SPLAB open, and every $5 donated gets you an entry in our monthly raffle for SPLAB swag!
7P, Tuesday, November 9, 2010, in the Cultural Corner. Enter on Edmunds through the double doors between Rainier Ave S and 36th Ave S. Parking is available RIGHT OUTSIDE THE DOOR and we’re three blocks from the Columbia City Link Light Rail station. Look for the new SPLAB sign!
Splab Sign
21 Poets, 1 Planet… An anthology to inspire hope in humanity – full of ‘lifeboat poetry’, Soul of the Earth is life-affirming, accessible and profound. Challenging received wisdoms and pushing boundaries, these cutting edge poems are from living writers who all share a love of the Earth and haven’t given up on humans either.
