Our application is motivated by the belief that the direction chosen by the Poetry Foundation is, at this moment of crisis for both poetry and the global political order, of paramount significance. The Foundation has distinguished itself under Barr’s leadership not through its programming, which has achieved an ascetic minimalism, but through its clarion pronouncements. It has taken a stand against the professionalization of the degree, against careerism, against specialization, and against creative writing programs. Outgoing President Barr has been firm in his statements that the necessary experience of the poet is in the daily life of labor outside academia and he has directed attention to the examples of Stevens, Eliot, Williams, as well as his own experience on Wall Street. He has used Hemingway as a frequent example, even at moments comparing his marlin fishing to the manual labor of a poet who is pouring concrete.
Read More | "A Job Letter to The Poetry Foundation" | Joshua Clover and Juliana Spahr | ?Lana Turner Journal