Tara Betts found herself attacked by a particularly ignorant political blogger named Debbie Schlussel over her class at UrbanWordNYC. Betts’s response is elegant, measured, and powerful, everything the attack was not. Update: I have been told that Schlussel’s attack was directed at the idea of hip-hop pedagogy and the associated program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I apologize for the error.
Oscar Bermeo takes on the changes at Harriet and talks about the need for an actual exchange of ideas about poetry.
Kaya Oakes wants to know how long a person has to avoid writing poetry to be considered a non-poet.
David Biespiel’s article in the latest issue of Poetry has spawned a number of responses (including my own). Tamiko Beyer weighs in at the Kenyon Review, and Josiah Bancroft discusses it at his blog. There’s also a good comment stream going at the Poetry Foundation website.
It’s time for the Oxford Poetry Professor election again. I doubt it will be as ugly as last year’s.
