One concerns exclusionary zoning in New Jersey, the other the 1985 attack on the MOVE compound in West Philadelphia. Mandelbaum's blending on moral philosophy nad concrete examples concludes with an account of citizenship in liberal republics. A panel of six distinguished poets and critics spanning three generations of innovative American writers 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 in and creates an audience for it. While prose fiction and non-fiction continue to enjoy relatively relatively healthy levels of reviewing, contemporary poetry has all but disappeared from the major magazines and newspapers. 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 illustraes more glaringly the marginal position of the poet in contemporary American society than her 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.