Odds and Ends Essays, Blogs, Internet Discussions, Interviews and Miscellany

The NEA (US equivalent of AC) has a general policy not to question artists of any kind because it becomes difficult to
determine the line between oversight and influence. They do require a financial accounting of how their money was
used, but that’s it. This question of oversight v. influence has caused amazing havoc in Congress, which budgets the
NEA. Congress is a notoriously conservative body with its fair share of right-wing religious nuts, so every once in a
while (say when a “Piss Christ” is made using the money they allocate) all hell breaks loose over the arts program.
The NEA is constantly struggling to survive.
Yes, I’m happier with explicit, otherwise I get confused. Sharp explanations have got me lots of trouble over the years,
I try to temper it with humor (of a sort). I don’t seem to be able to burnish my language, except by writing obscurely
nuanced poetry.
And Tim: In the US, corporate publishers have expected authors to do the bulk of their promotion since the 1990s,
and since all US corporate publishing is owned by businessmen outside the US, it’s probably safe to say that is the
policy in Europe and the UK as well. Corporate publishers seldom promote books past a certain formula of cost,
which is then figured as part of the production; it is a very small percentage. Legendary editors, like Max Perkins,
simply are that: legendary. Tony is the closest thing we have to Perkins, and he’s not in corporate publishing.
Perhaps such editors also still exist in other parts of the world, like South Asia and Micronesia, perhaps. An author’s
desirability is partly determined by the extent of their outreach: do they have a website, will they travel to read, will
they pick up the cost of traveling to read, etc.?
Hi Jeffrey, and thanks ever so much! For all. Yes, I’m back for the mo.
Jamie McKendrick
Sharp I meant in a good way! And thanks for this further information and for clearing up my misunderstanding about
remaindered books.
Thinking about the Enzensberger Postulate, it suddenly strikes me that the figure 1,354 is probably pretty close to
the number of poetry books published annually in the UK. If the publication rate is higher, which wouldn’t surprise
me, and that indeed is the readership, then we really are in trouble.
Luke Lemmett
Just a note to say that visited a local independent bookstore, and was somewhat disappointed that most of its (small)
poetry section was quite conventional. Seemed like you had to attend readings or other events there, to get much of a
taste of what can be found on-line. Not necessarily a bad thing, I was just surprised.
Philip Rowland
Hi Jeffrey-yes (as far as I can). My collection, Something Other Than Other, which came out last year from Isobar
Press, a small press specialising in English-language writing from Japan, can be found on its site
http://isobarpress.com
along with recent titles I’d recommend such as Kotan Chronicles, by Genzo Sarashina, proletarian poetry from the
20s and 30s about the Ainu and Japanese settlers, and a version of Il Porto Sepolto by Ungaretti (its impact partly due
to the influence of Japanese poetry) by Andrew Fitzsimons, a poet who is also based here in Tokyo.
These are not available as ebooks, but excerpts from some of the books are available online (hopefully leading to
purchase of books in some cases!)
Tim Allen
Well yes I know Jamie, but as I said some, poets are just not in a position to do the bulk of their own promotion,
however much they might want to. This obviously skews the sales towards those who are poetry activists and
networkers, but of course there is no correlation between the quality of the poetry and being a poetry activist or
networker-which is not something I’ve thought about before. Interesting. Just what undiscovered jewels are out
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