Answering, "What poets should I read?"
During a particularly slow week, I may only get asked once, "What poets should I read?"
Many people who are asked this question often struggle with the answer, not because they can't think of poets to recommend, but because there are too many poets to recommend in passing conversation. This is true for me as well, and by itself, not worth mentioning.
The problem I attach to this dynamic is that I really care about getting the answer right.
This is a consideration I don't often see taken into account in these scenarios and that really bothers me. Answering a question as broad as that with a laundry list of people you like or think people "should" read (which usually just makes matters worse in the long run), while doing little to no discernable harm, also does no overwhelming good. I think it's wrong to answer that question without taking into consideration any information about the questioner. Do they want to know who I think they should read so as to become a better writer? A better performer? For entertainment purposes? To publish more often? Do they wish to focus on a particular area of their writing (shoring up weaknesses or strengths), or be exposed to work they've had no awareness of at all? I know most people don't think the question is that deep, and they're probably right: most of the people who ask it probably aren't terribly concerned with specifics.
But I can't help it: I simply cannot answer the question without a question or two of my own. I know trying to decipher purpose out of the question makes the conversation longer. To navigate that "issue" I've come up with a way to answer it without doing too much disservice to the questioner or myself. I've created a short cut.
Operating under the assumption that most people who ask this question are asking because they really just want to know who I've read, appreciated or considered an influence on my own work, I discovered that, thanks to something I've already done, I've already got the answer most people I meet are looking for. It's right here:
24-hour setlists 2006-2012
http://scottwoods.livejournal.com/349110.html
That is a link to a compilation of all of the poems I have read at 24-hour readings over the last seven years, averaging 360 poems a year. When you consider that I enjoyed most of the poems I read at those readings (some I just came to...appreciate), that's over 2500 poems in one fell swoop. I can think of no better record of what I think people should read than the work I shared in that context, at great peril to my body and sanity.
Please note that this is not a call for people to go forth and create pages upon pages of poem recommendations. For any working poet that list changes all of the time. This may be an oblique call for people to better frame the question itself, offering just a little more information to better aid those whose recommendations you seek.
Good luck on both sides of the question!
P.S.) Even explaining this is too much for some people. For those poor, uncaring souls, I'll just say, "Read everything by Stephen Dunn, Charles Bukowski, Adrian C. Louis, and any Billy Collins before 2008 and get back to me."
Many people who are asked this question often struggle with the answer, not because they can't think of poets to recommend, but because there are too many poets to recommend in passing conversation. This is true for me as well, and by itself, not worth mentioning.
The problem I attach to this dynamic is that I really care about getting the answer right.
This is a consideration I don't often see taken into account in these scenarios and that really bothers me. Answering a question as broad as that with a laundry list of people you like or think people "should" read (which usually just makes matters worse in the long run), while doing little to no discernable harm, also does no overwhelming good. I think it's wrong to answer that question without taking into consideration any information about the questioner. Do they want to know who I think they should read so as to become a better writer? A better performer? For entertainment purposes? To publish more often? Do they wish to focus on a particular area of their writing (shoring up weaknesses or strengths), or be exposed to work they've had no awareness of at all? I know most people don't think the question is that deep, and they're probably right: most of the people who ask it probably aren't terribly concerned with specifics.
But I can't help it: I simply cannot answer the question without a question or two of my own. I know trying to decipher purpose out of the question makes the conversation longer. To navigate that "issue" I've come up with a way to answer it without doing too much disservice to the questioner or myself. I've created a short cut.
Operating under the assumption that most people who ask this question are asking because they really just want to know who I've read, appreciated or considered an influence on my own work, I discovered that, thanks to something I've already done, I've already got the answer most people I meet are looking for. It's right here:
24-hour setlists 2006-2012
http://scottwoods.livejournal.com/349110.html
That is a link to a compilation of all of the poems I have read at 24-hour readings over the last seven years, averaging 360 poems a year. When you consider that I enjoyed most of the poems I read at those readings (some I just came to...appreciate), that's over 2500 poems in one fell swoop. I can think of no better record of what I think people should read than the work I shared in that context, at great peril to my body and sanity.
Please note that this is not a call for people to go forth and create pages upon pages of poem recommendations. For any working poet that list changes all of the time. This may be an oblique call for people to better frame the question itself, offering just a little more information to better aid those whose recommendations you seek.
Good luck on both sides of the question!
P.S.) Even explaining this is too much for some people. For those poor, uncaring souls, I'll just say, "Read everything by Stephen Dunn, Charles Bukowski, Adrian C. Louis, and any Billy Collins before 2008 and get back to me."