Alex Grant
Humor in poetry…
Is often a contentious subject – I’ve even heard it referred to as “yukking it up”. Adherents of that particular school of thought contend that humor has no place in poetry and serves only to dumb it down or devalue poetry’s intrinsic merit. I personally feel that humor most definitely has a place and value in poetry – but it can be bit of a balancing act to effectively pull off, and definitely shouldn’t be overdone. I’d say that maybe only 1 in 6 of my poems contains some element of humor – though that probably puts me squarely toward the “funny” end of the spectrum.
My feeling is that humor can allow things to be said that might sound trite or downright po-faced if said completely seriously(two adjectives that, for me, spell death to the average poem or reader.) Three of the better poets writing today(Tony Hoagland, Billy Collins and Dean Young) emply humor very effectively, and I think that contemporary poetry is the better for it.
Poetry is, in the end, a serious business – but sometimes we run the risk of taking ourselves a little bit too seriously. God forbid that the serious and the funny should ever be mutually exclusive.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Beginning Poet Critique
Dear poet – a few notes on your poem
“Tammy of Troy.” The sky can be bruised,
heedless, leaden, etc. – but I’m having trouble
with “pump-action.” A word on poignancy –
rusting swing-sets, faded photographs
and the like are pretty failsafe – I’m not
convinced your expired restraining order
plays quite so well. The nipple reference
is usually a can’t-miss, but might work
harder here without actually mentioning
the grease-gun. Sapphic nods are generally
fine, though “hot lesbo action” may be a wee
bit explicit for our readership – just a thought.
Classical references can be effective(Greek
is best,) though I don’t recall Menelaus
ever holding up a liquor-store, and I believe
Archimedes invented the planetarium,
but I don’t think the Veg-o-matic was
one of his. While it’s commonly accepted
that hemorrhoids were indeed a problem
at that time, I felt that dedicating three
stanzas to the topic was perhaps overkill.
On your shift from classical to modern –
deftly handled, though I felt you could lose
the time-machine and still pull it off.
Good luck placing this elsewhere.
Finalist, 2005 James Hearst Poetry Prize – first published in North American Review and in The White Book (http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/chapbooks.php)
Poetry Mid-Term
[1]
Describe the smell when rain hits the pavement
after a long dry spell. Discuss the importance
of the following factors: the rain, the nose,
the builder of the road, propensity for language.
[2]
Imagine that the universe is small enough
to fit between the covers of a book.
Invent a character who convinces everyone
of the boundless nature of the cosmos.
You may not use the omniscient form.
[3]
Explain the color blue (all shades).
In less than three hundred words, propose
a new way of looking at a raindrop.
Cite a minimum of three practical applications.
[4]
Establish a credible connection between
the following: the curve of a woman’s breast,
a 1957 Cadillac Imperial, monotheism. Result
must be enjoyable to the average reader,
and be small enough to hold in one hand.
[5]
True or False? You must change your life.
First published in Kakalak Anthology of Carolina Poets and in The White Book (http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/chapbooks.php)
Poetry Final
[1]
Describe the sound when a penny drops
into a wishing-well. Consider the relevance
of the following factors: acoustics, knowledge
of wells, odds of fulfillment, presence of stars.
To be written from the coin’s point of view.
[2]
Imagine gravity traded as a commodity.
From a bird’s perspective, make a case
for public ownership, apportioned by weight.
Set on an uninhabited island.
[3]
Explain the attraction of the moon.
In no more than thirty-two lines, suggest
a new name for the number zero.
Combine the responses in a 12-line pantoum.
[4]
Establish a seamless association between
the following: an executioner’s birthday party,
fractal geometry, attention deficit disorder.
Result must be tacitly non-judgmental,
and be suitable for a sixth-grade audience.
[5]
Bonus question – substantiate your findings.
First published in Phi Kappa Phi Forum and in Chains & Mirrors (http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/OtherPubs.php)
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Alex Grant’s book Chains & Mirrors(NCWN/Harperprints) won the 2006 Randall Jarrell Poetry Prize and the 2007 Oscar Arnold Young Award (Best North Carolina poetry collection; click here to view a video of the awards ceremony reading.) His new collection, The White Book, has just been released by Main St. Rag Publishing. He received Kakalak’s 2006 Poetry Prize and WMSU’s 2004 Pavel Srut Poetry Fellowship, and has been a recent runner-up or finalist for Discovery/The Nation, The Pablo Neruda Prize, the Arts & Letters Poetry Prize, and The Dorset, Brittingham, Felix Pollak, Tupelo Open and Lena-Miles Wever Todd book Prizes, among others. His poems have appeared or are upcoming in numerous national journals and anthologies, including Meridian's Best New Poets 2007, the Missouri Review and Smartish Pace. Alex Grant was also recently interviewed by Frank Stasio for the program "The State of Things". (To listen to the podcast click here.) A native Scot, he lives in Chapel Hill, NC, with his wife Tristi, his dangling participles and his Celtic fondness for excess.Visit him on the web at http://www.redroom.com/author/alex-grant.