Poetry Nation
    •  
  • Search
  • Join Now
  • Login
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Publishing Info
    • About the Team
  • Rate Poems
    • Start Rating!
    • Rating Guidelines
    • Latest Poems
    • Top Poems
  • Contests
    • Enter Poetry Contest
    • Contest Winners
    • Contest Info and Rules
    • Contest Judging
  • Reference
    • Articles
    • Workshop
    • Glossary
    • Greatest Poems
    • Senior Spotlight
  • News
    • Cavalieri’s Corner
  • Store
  • User’s Top Poems
« Previous
Next »

New Yorker Essayist Adam Gopnik Speaks at W. D. Snodgrass Symposium

May 23, 2011

 What an honor it was not only to attend an event held in honor of one of American’s most influential contemporary poets but to also be in the presence of Adam Gopnik, longtime New Yorker essayist, commentator, and author of children’s books.  Gopnik was invited by the University of Delaware to be a guest speaker/commentator at the Symposium in Memory of W. D. Snodgrass on April 27, 2011 at UD’s Roselle Center for the Arts.  Although Gopnik was never connected to Snodgrass on a personal level, he feels they share at least one common bond—they come from the “same fraternity” of authors with “funny-sounding names” whereby Gopnik revealed his partiality to Snodgrass’s poem “These Trees Stand” containing the memorable line “Snodgrass is walking through the universe.”  This poem was recited at the start of the event by James Keegan, once a student of Snodgrass and now a professor.  As Gopnik pointed out, it simply would not have had the same impact or conveyed the same meaning with any other name—such as Lowell, Bishop, or Browning.  With a name like Snodgrass or Gopnik, what more can one do but embrace it?

Gopnik began his remarks by indicating that there are poets "we love by heart, poets we learn by rule, and poets we know in pieces."  Snodgrass perhaps is hard to place for those who do not know him, as his work encompassed a multitude of styles, attitudes, subjects, and themes.  He certainly would have appreciated Gopnik’s comment regarding him being labeled a confessional poet, as this is a label with which Snodgrass thoroughly disagreed.  Instead, Gopnik refers to Snodgrass as a “master of intimate detail,” a comment that easily corroborates Kathy Snodgrass’ later remark that her husband’s poetry exudes “uncommon tenderness.”

Gopnik spoke extensively about the great band of American poets who arose toward the end of WWII, namely Robert Lowell, Randall Jarrell, Elizabeth Bishop, and Richard Wilbur.  Snodgrass became a part of this group and dwelled frequently on the “prisoner of war” both literally and figuratively in his poetry.  Of these poets, Gopnik comments, “They are poets who continue to matter not just in the narrow world of academia, but in the larger world of readers who read for love and read for pleasure, who we still read and care passionately about."

Gopnik is an eloquent, entertaining speaker, one whom W. D. Snodgrass would have liked and  approved.  As a “distant observer,” Gopnik shared a unique perspective with all who attended.

Related

Category: Contemporary Poetry
This entry was posted on Monday, May 23rd, 2011 at 12:00 am. Both comments and pings are currently closed.



Poetry Contest Poetry Contest

    RSS Web News

    • Meet the 'Scouse Poet' using creativity to combat depression - Liverpool Echo
    • Welsh Poet Removed From Avianca Flight Over CPAP Machine ... - Simple Flying
    • Reader disturbed that South Carolina has lingered without a poet laureate since 2020 - The State
    • MCSY announces festival on poetry, folk arts - Muscat Daily
    • WATCH: Teen poet wins recording contract under Obert Dube mentorship - Chronicle
    • Student at WestConn in Danbury named a CT Collegiate Poet - Danbury News Times
  • PUBLISH YOUR OWN BOOK OF POETRY

    You can publish your own book of poetry for as little as $350! Click here to learn how.

  • Editor’s Note

    The number one question our editors receive is—what do the editors and judges look for when judging the contest? The number one answer we give is creativity. Unlike prose, writing composed in everyday language, poetry is considered a creative art and requires a different type of effort and a certain level of depth. Of the thousands of poems entered in each contest, the ones that catch our judges’ eyes are the ones that remove us, even just slightly, from the scope of everyday life by using language that is interesting, specific, vivid, obscure, compelling, figurative, and so on. Oftentimes, poems are pulled aside for a second look based simply on certain words that intrigued the reader. So first and foremost, be sure your poetry is written using creative language. Take general ideas and make them personal. In his infamous book De/Compositions: 101 Good Poems Gone Wrong, W. D. Snodgrass imparts, “We cannot honestly discuss or represent our lives, any more than our poems, without using ideational language.”

  • © 2023 Poetry Nation
  • All Rights Reserved
  • Terms Of Use
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Return Policy