Quick, who's Poet Laureate of the U.S? Ever heard of Philip Levine? Yeah, I had no idea either until I happened to stumble over him on the Speakeasynyc channel on YouTube where he appeared as part of Taylor Mali's Page Meets Stage.
I knew it was Levine, but this is the kind of thing I tend to watch. I find the list incredibly arbitrary and I wonder how they make selections. Charles Simic, for example, is IMO an extroardinary poet, but Kay Ryan I had never heard of and wasn't excited by once i read her stuff...
LOL, I'm always surprised to remember that we even have one. Maya Angelou, fine, love her. Robert Frost, fine, don't love him but fine. I don't even get the point of the position.
I knew it was Levine, but this is the kind of thing I tend to watch. I find the list incredibly arbitrary and I wonder how they make selections. Charles Simic, for example, is IMO an extroardinary poet, but Kay Ryan I had never heard of and wasn't excited by once i read her stuff...
ReplyDeleteLOL, I'm always surprised to remember that we even have one. Maya Angelou, fine, love her. Robert Frost, fine, don't love him but fine. I don't even get the point of the position.
Delete