A panel of six distinguished poets and critics will examine the issues, problems, and possibilities involved in poetry reviews. The panel discussion will be followed by readings and a reception. The event is free and open to the public.
Reviews are central to all literature.
Having a title reviewed in the major media generates interest and creates an audience for it. Instead, poetry reviews have largely been consigned to specialized publications and little magazines. If the ability to get reviewed in the major media is an index of status, nothing illustrates more glaringly the marginal position of poets in contemporary American society than their absence from the review pages. Participants in the symposium will take up the challenge and reflect on the audience for poetry and its relation to the media. The poets and critics participating in the symposium span three genera- tions of innovative American writers.