A Counter Proposal What is so fascinating about Kent Johnson’s modest proposal of a new age of “unsigned” or pseudonymous reviewing as a “satellite economy” to conventional—fixed to a specific person—reviewing is the way it dovetails perfectly with his lifelong struggle as a poet to undermine the concept of poetic identity. Even his “drollery” to […]
Nonfiction
ANGE MLINKO’S RESPONSE TO “SOME DARKER BOUQUETS”
To begin, I’d like to list some qualities (requirements?) of contemporary poetry: – Very interesting language, an extremely personal style – A great emphasis on connotation, texture (as opposed to direct statement) – Extreme intensity, forced emotion, violence – A good deal of obscurity – Emphasis on sensation, perceptual nuances – Emphasis on details, on […]
MAUREEN MCLANE’S RESPONSE TO “SOME DARKER BOUQUETS”
I‘d like to go all negative on Kent, as he seems to relish any lively fracas, but alas, regarding his analysis of the often soppy, intermittently snarky state of poetry criticism, I can only say, Yeah, that seems about right. So rather than dispute or debate I’ll mainly just dilate—a few thoughts follow from Kent’s […]
ERIC LORBERER’S RESPONSE TO “SOME DARKER BOUQUETS”
Reviewing Poetry (or the Negative Positive Knee-Jerk Jamboree) In assessing literary journalism’s dearth of negative poetry reviews, Kent Johnson hits a lot of nails on the head: most poetry critics are practicing poets themselves; as such many are prone to use reviewing as a place for toadyism and ladder climbing rather than to confront real […]
DAVID LAU’S RESPONSE TO “SOME DARKER BOUQUETS”
Don’t Call It a Comeback I don’t want to use this space to address each point Kent Johnson makes. Some is wise common sense, wiser coming from Kent. Sure, criticism should be more ruthless and pitiless. “Fawning, toadyism” is part of Kent’s stinging characterization of today’s all pervasive, careerist variant of the-thing-itself. If the production of such alternative, “negative” […]
JOHN LATTA’S RESPONSE TO “SOME DARKER BOUQUETS”
Examens Négatifs: A Roster Incompleat Of course what is duly (and dully) lacking in poetry-reviewing (genus norteamericano) is the sublime (awe-striking) negative: it resides in (and emerges out of) the rhubarb and hubbub of regular, aggressively independent, and bravely committed engagement (and retaliatory exchange) with the contemporary (increasingly international) scene, a poking into all the various corners of […]
MARK HALLIDAY’S RESPONSE TO “SOME DARKER BOUQUETS”
The experience of reading a thoughtful and responsible critic who severely questions the value of certain poems is crucial for anyone seeking a deeper relation to poetry. This is true whether the poems are by Milton or Wordsworth or our contemporaries. If you float along year after year reading poetry without encountering any severely demanding […]
JOHANNES GÖRANSSON’S RESPONSE TO “SOME DARKER BOUQUETS”
Hello Kent Johnson: You raise a number of important points in your piece about negative reviewing. However, I think you’re patently wrong about the overarching issue. Negative and positive reviewing are just flipsides of the same coin, guards of the same sand castle, doctors of the same symptoms. Both the blandly positive review and the […]
DAISY FRIED’S RESPONSE TO “SOME DARKER BOUQUETS”
Possible and Impossible Truths About Reviewing Snottiness, contempt, unfairness, mockery, drollery, cruel wit: These are signs of vigor. So is generosity. Vigor in art creates vigor in criticism, not the other way around. Of course there should be negative reviewing. Anonymous reviews may be entertaining, but seem unlikely to be useful. We may enjoy seeing […]
BILL FREIND’S RESPONSE TO “SOME DARKER BOUQUETS”
Another View of the Review The last negative review I wrote was over twenty-five years ago, when I trashed an AC/DC album in my high school newspaper, so I might not be the best person to contribute to a discussion of the importance of the negative poetry review. I’ve always been more interested in reviewing […]
