I can't imagine that even the most indiscriminate cheerleaders of Creative Writing would pretend that we have anything happening at the moment comparable to the 'Twenties when Frost, Stevens, Eliot, Williams, Moore, Millay, Pound, Jeffers, Ransom, Cummings, MacLeish, Hughes, Crane, and H. D. redefined the art. There had never been a moment like that earlier in American poetry, so it's probably not surprising that it isn't recurring now. We have some superb poets writing today, but we no longer have the conviction that our best new writing is also our most innovative. When I am writing an essay or review, I carefully consider its current context. My opinions and approach grow out of the critical discourse surrounding the subject.
Critical prose is necessarily timely and pragmatic.
When I'm writing a poem, I hardly consider its contemporary context. That's why I can work on a poem for years without feeling it is losing anything essential whereas a critical piece might easily lose its edge. Very few literary essays are readable after a century, but the best poetry still feels fresh. No, just the opposite. I know I will reread for the rest of my life.