The transcript of an online conference with Robert Pinsky. When I say to myself a poem by Emily Dickinson or George Herbert, the artist's medium is my breath. The reader's breath and hearing embody the poet's words. Pinsky's major initiative as poet laureate is something called the Favorite Poem Project, and it embodies this democratic spirit. This past weekend, on Valentine's Day, the project launched its official Web site , which ultimately will hold the entire archive and will offer easy access to the public.
Poetry is all over the Internet , of course.
Nevertheless, poetry readings remain rare on the Web, even as audio technology improves by leaps and bounds. Not everyone reads a poem equally well, it's true, but that misses the point. Next year, in April of 2000, Pinsky plans to deliver the initial installment of the Millennium Archive to the Library of Congress. Rarely does a poet get to see his or her theory of poetry put into practice on the national stage, by literally thousands of compatriots from all corners of the republic. Yet this is the happy situation in which Robert Pinsky now finds himself.