Just finished the new novel All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost, a kind of moral fable about two male poets in an “Iowa Writers Workshop-type” MFA program in the eighties, one of whom has an affair with his “Jorie Graham-type” professor and subsequently is awarded prizes by said professor that lead him to a great career, while his more pure-minded classmates ends up dying in obscurity, despite, perhaps, being the better writer. It’s kind of old-fashioned in that it lacks an ironic take on these proceedings, and, I think, ascribes old-fashioned moral suffering to a main character who doesn’t seem to have any morals. It was written by the current director of The Iowa Writers Workshop, and seems to support the “Foetry” view of the Poetry Universe – unless you get a champion early on, preferably by sleeping with someone famous, you are doomed to a life of artistic unrecogniton. Which is, for me, since I’m someone who has never slept with any famous poets, kind of depressing. (Hey, I got married early to a cute guy I still really like! It’s really a sleeping-with-your-professor deterrent.)

It makes you wonder about the way poetry “careers” – teaching jobs, awards, grants, etc – are still made today. Do you think increased scrutiny has lead to less nepotism today? Do you think a young emerging poet needs a older, more famous poetry “champion” to get any notice, and if so, how do we go about getting such a “champion?” (Without, you know, the sleeping with part.) I know the internet is a great equalizer, and I’ve met so many nice poets with great personalities and great writing out there, poets who deserve more recognition…And don’t give me the old saw “Only the writing matters, don’t worry about your poetry career.” Because I don’t believe many writers write who don’t also want to be read, and often, getting those “boosts” – awards, jobs, grants, reviews in the right places – is the difference between getting read and not getting read.