An interesting event review by Daniel Nester- toward the end is this paragraph

I’m not saying the audience is rude, but if I were a book reviewer from, say, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, I might chat over the poetry segment too, especially given the relative unfamiliarity of the nominees this year. Even Jack Gilbert, a “poet’s poet,” older than the other nominees by an average 35 years, is a relative recluse. How would a general audience recognize any of these names?

I read a lot of poetry and all the names were familiar to me- I even have books by three of them- does he mean 'general public' audience or 'poetry-reading' audience?

hmmm

I 'met' (over the phone) Daniel Nester when a certain zine owner dumped me from his roster because (I believe) he wanted a younger, hipper editor- (I did 2 very good issues which are not archived on the site) Nester has since left the fold- or was also forced out because he didn't kowtow properly (either).

He seemed very nice- a regular guy, I suppose.

Back to local events- the Just Poetry Slam was last night- loooooooooooong poems- I really like the official designation of three minutes for read poems. Like a good sermon, a good poem can be honed to perfect in that amount of time IMO. After that, it becomes more of a dramatic monologue than a poem- a story, a narrative.

I attended the DC Slam on Sunday night- a refreshing sip of poetry, I wish more locals would go and hear a different viewpoint.

2nd SlamRichmond on April 3rd (and come out for the April 2nd Tenth National Poetry Month Open Reading at Artspace at 4pm.