Ask me about comtemporary poetry

Georgia Avenue · #1 01-30-2007, 01:01 PM

So I woke up late for work today and now I'm not going...I have a couple hours, why not benefit this grand new forum with some fascinating poemtalk?

Ask about writing it, reading it, resources for either, career advice (triple lol), gossip, technical stuff, theory, or whatever. Trivia will be handled by google.

Go/Go/Go
--GA

DegenGambler · #2 01-30-2007, 01:07 PM

No offense intended, but how do you make a living writing it? What is your main source of income? Individual poems? Single entries in literary compilations? Teaching?

Georgia Avenue · #3 01-30-2007, 01:16 PM

[ QUOTE ]
No offense intended, but how do you make a living writing it? What is your main source of income? Individual poems? Single entries in literary compilations? Teaching?

[/ QUOTE ]

None taken DAD (yes I know it's you, nice fake sn!)...Is your question how does ANYONE make money via poetry or how do I? I work for a university teaching gifted HS kids online. You have to have an MFA (Master of fine arts) to teach for us. I do lots of techie stuff, so I make a decent living.

Most people with my degree want to be college professors...most end up doing something else, usually coffee-related. Some poets, like the current director of the NEA Dana Gioia, go into the business world and write in their spare time and manage to make a career out of that.

Either way, nobody makes money from the sale of poetry. However, if you want a good teaching career, you have to get published in fancy journals. This is easier said than done, and takes a lot of work, not all of it nice. Also it means working in bumf--k nowhere teaching composition to cheeseheads, which isn't everyone's cup of tea.

I hope that was semi-coherent...
--GA

DegenGambler · #4 01-30-2007, 01:28 PM

You might have me mistaken for someone else...like your dad. I'm a long time lurker/sporadic poster. I've gone through several screen names in the past, but unfortunately now have to distance my real name from any connection with poker. I'll be entering the legal world in...a terrifyingly short amount of time. And I can't have some 2p2 content popping up in any google searches when someone types in "my name + my law firm."

My main motivation in asking is for my own understanding of several of my friends' lives. A couple people I know do WRITE poetry, and have for several years, but haven't made a career out of it. They also have advanced degrees, though I don't know if they have MFAs or Masters in Publishing, or Masters in English Comp or Lit or something. I just frankly had no idea where the money comes from besides teaching.

Golden_Rhino · #5 01-30-2007, 01:33 PM

El D,

I really wish I had known that you were a poetry expert because I was up all night last night analyzing a poem for English class and still have no idea what the hell I wrote. perhaps I can trouble you for some help in the future?

Gildwulf · #6 01-30-2007, 01:40 PM

GA,

Can you write a poem about the El Diablo forum using techniques you teach in class?

Golden_Rhino · #7 01-30-2007, 02:34 PM

[ QUOTE ]
El D,

I really wish I had known that you were a poetry expert because I was up all night last night analyzing a poem for English class and still have no idea what the hell I wrote. perhaps I can trouble you for some help in the future?

[/ QUOTE ]

GA,

Sorry pal, the above post was meant for you. I saw El D's avatar, and well, the rest is obvious. You BBV guys are weird.

Georgia Avenue · #8 01-30-2007, 02:38 PM

[ QUOTE ]
El D,

I really wish I had known that you were a poetry expert because I was up all night last night analyzing a poem for English class and still have no idea what the hell I wrote. perhaps I can trouble you for some help in the future?

[/ QUOTE ]

Leveled? I'm not going to help you with your homework, yo. But if you want to analyse a poem, just stick to what it actually says. Read this and all will become clear

Georgia Avenue · #9 01-30-2007, 02:33 PM

[ QUOTE ]
You might have me mistaken for someone else...like your dad. I'm a long time lurker/sporadic poster. I've gone through several screen names in the past, but unfortunately now have to distance my real name from any connection with poker. I'll be entering the legal world in...a terrifyingly short amount of time. And I can't have some 2p2 content popping up in any google searches when someone types in "my name + my law firm."

My main motivation in asking is for my own understanding of several of my friends' lives. A couple people I know do WRITE poetry, and have for several years, but haven't made a career out of it. They also have advanced degrees, though I don't know if they have MFAs or Masters in Publishing, or Masters in English Comp or Lit or something. I just frankly had no idea where the money comes from besides teaching.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's it, just teaching really. You can get a job in publishing maybe, if you're a waspy new england type too.

Pyromaniac · #10 01-30-2007, 02:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Is your question how does ANYONE make money via poetry or how do I? I work for a university teaching gifted HS kids online. You have to have an MFA (Master of fine arts) to teach for us. I do lots of techie stuff, so I make a decent living.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is interesting. you teach them online...does that mean you're onsite at the university, but they can log in from wherever?

do you teach them poetry, or English in general, or everything? ("you" meaning both "you" and "your university") is this HS credit they're getting, or like, dual-credit/college credit?