We're mid-way through the writer's conference. Last night Christian Wiman, editor of Poetry Magazine, gave a nice keynote address. He addressed the pitiful irrelevance poetry has fallen to over the last several years. I couldn't agree more. The journal is the oldest in America and, since receiving a 200 million dollar endowment from a dear departed reader a couple of years ago, the richest. Maybe they'll be able to up the stakes a bit. I hope they manage to stay independent doing it. He mentioned he recently wrote an article critical of a government writing program offered soldiers returning from Iraq. He said for about a month after that his life was very uncomfortable, a bit like having Tony Soprano mad at you.
One of my poems was a finalist in the poetry contest and Christian is critiquing it in his workshop today, which is cool. I"m looking forward to hearing what he has to say about it.
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