Kay Ryan on AWP

I have several huge piles of poems and articles about poetry printed from various websites. In the interests of clearing office space, I've been going through them and throwing most of them out , keeping only my favourites.

I enjoyed this one - Kay Ryan on her view of AWP which I found both entertaining and thought provoking. (Now that the link is recorded here, I'll throw out the printed pages).

She describes the "contemporary sestina" as like the "contemporary minuet" - both hopeful and sweet. This put me in mind of my third grade piano exam when one of my set pieces was "Minuet for a Modern Grandmother". As I recall, it was dissonant, syncopated and unlike my elderly music teacher, I rather liked it. So perhaps there is hope for the contemporary sestina despite Kay's views (though I have yet to write one myself).