Subject
Fw: Politics and Poetry
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Date
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From: Johnson, Kurt <JohnsonK@Coudert.com>
To: 'Vladimir Nabokov Forum' <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Subject: RE: Politics and Poetry
Date: Thursday, May 23, 2002 7:38 AM
Hum.. this is very interesting because in NYC some "sectors" of poetic
exercise seem to be taking precisely a political aim, and the New York
Ethical Society of which I am a very active part, hosted a poetry reading
precisely on that 'point' [politics, and issues of race and class] with
readers from various City University MFA programs. I was VERY surprised at
the large attendence at this reading, which has now become a once a month
event. But here in NYC we have many issues, particularly since 9/11. We
have many many non-green card families with breadwinners incarcerated
without charge (while the govt. tries to evaluate their status as good guys
or bad guys). In the meantime, we help find a way to feed their families
etc. and have a large Jewish/Arab coalition that works TOGETHER to do this.
It is hard for Americans to imagine a world without habeas corpus, but we
have one now. There are other race and class issues in NYC, and the new
college and graduate school generations seem to be pendulum swinging back
to
political awareness and the "use" of the poetic craft as a vehicle. I was
surprised that one of the readers was a descendant of Countee Cullen
(pardon
the spelling if incorrect) etc. So, at least in NYC lately, poetry and
politics, again, seem to have more in common than that letter P. Regarding
this, it is an interesting "flip" re: Nabokov that, for all his words which
might indicate he had little interest in effecting public policy, his own
legacy in science (coupled with his fame in literature) has become a major
inspiring/motivating force in the conservation movement, at least in the
world of invertebrates. Often things are not as they seem, at least in
that
wonderful 20/20 hindsight time eventually gives.
KURT JOHNSON
-----Original Message-----
From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gte.net]
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2002 7:15 PM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Politics and Poetry
This message was originally submitted by goliard@WORLDNET.ATT.NET
to the NABOKV-L list at LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU.es)
-------------------
Came across this apposite remark in a recent _TLS_ review of Seamus
Heaney's _Finders Keepers_, a collection of his prose writings. 'Heaney
agrees with Joseph Brodsky that the only thing poetry and politics have
in common "are the letters P and O.'
I think VN would be in full agreement.
From: Johnson, Kurt <JohnsonK@Coudert.com>
To: 'Vladimir Nabokov Forum' <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Subject: RE: Politics and Poetry
Date: Thursday, May 23, 2002 7:38 AM
Hum.. this is very interesting because in NYC some "sectors" of poetic
exercise seem to be taking precisely a political aim, and the New York
Ethical Society of which I am a very active part, hosted a poetry reading
precisely on that 'point' [politics, and issues of race and class] with
readers from various City University MFA programs. I was VERY surprised at
the large attendence at this reading, which has now become a once a month
event. But here in NYC we have many issues, particularly since 9/11. We
have many many non-green card families with breadwinners incarcerated
without charge (while the govt. tries to evaluate their status as good guys
or bad guys). In the meantime, we help find a way to feed their families
etc. and have a large Jewish/Arab coalition that works TOGETHER to do this.
It is hard for Americans to imagine a world without habeas corpus, but we
have one now. There are other race and class issues in NYC, and the new
college and graduate school generations seem to be pendulum swinging back
to
political awareness and the "use" of the poetic craft as a vehicle. I was
surprised that one of the readers was a descendant of Countee Cullen
(pardon
the spelling if incorrect) etc. So, at least in NYC lately, poetry and
politics, again, seem to have more in common than that letter P. Regarding
this, it is an interesting "flip" re: Nabokov that, for all his words which
might indicate he had little interest in effecting public policy, his own
legacy in science (coupled with his fame in literature) has become a major
inspiring/motivating force in the conservation movement, at least in the
world of invertebrates. Often things are not as they seem, at least in
that
wonderful 20/20 hindsight time eventually gives.
KURT JOHNSON
-----Original Message-----
From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gte.net]
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2002 7:15 PM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Politics and Poetry
This message was originally submitted by goliard@WORLDNET.ATT.NET
to the NABOKV-L list at LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU.es)
-------------------
Came across this apposite remark in a recent _TLS_ review of Seamus
Heaney's _Finders Keepers_, a collection of his prose writings. 'Heaney
agrees with Joseph Brodsky that the only thing poetry and politics have
in common "are the letters P and O.'
I think VN would be in full agreement.