Tuesday, January 26, 2010

News at Eleven: "But what I'm not happy about,"

he [Derek Walcott] says, "is the way poetry has been taught. There is a wilful and perverse obscurity about so much contemporary poetry. I blame those who have been teaching it for making it remote for the public.

"Poetry is useless if you cannot understand it. Look, I get angry and irritated about this, but I don't think it's because I'm an old man. The simple fact is that some of this obscure poetry is like abstract expressionism in art. Some think it's clever, but I'm not convinced."

from The Sunday Times: Nobel prize winner is looking forward to lessons in poetry
also Stabroek News: Derek Walcott the artist

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