Poetry editor of the New Yorker on the popularity of poetry

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July 19, 2001
Annie Feidt - Interviewer, Alice Quinn - Interviewee
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Alice Quinn, poetry editor at the New Yorker and Head of the Poetry Society of America discusses the promotion of poetry. Quinn also reads two of her favorite poems.

Poetry is more popular than ever, attracting readers young and old to the likes of Dickinson and Longfellow and newer poets, including Sherman Alexie and Maya Angelou.

Transcript:

(00:00:00) You're not really looking for something. It's just that something happens

(00:00:04) to you while you're reading it and you recognize that as an achievement on the part of the poet.

(00:00:11) I think first of all, I instantly want to reread it. The ending is so cinched that it bounces me back to the beginning

(00:00:22) if the language is beautiful, even if the

(00:00:24) thought is complicated The

(00:00:27) Sounds can be very

(00:00:28) seductive and And you want to figure out what the poet is after you

(00:00:33) you want to parse the mood The Apparition the resolution of the feeling.

(00:00:41) I think Robert Frost

(00:00:42) was right when he said a poem must like ice

(00:00:45) on a hot stove ride on its own melting,

(00:00:48) you know, it gains in momentum and it's a beautiful construction a beautiful composition. And it takes a lot of Labor and experienced know how to do that. Now as head of the Poetry Society of America, you've placed poems in buses and Subways across the u.s. How is choosing a poem for the New Yorker different than choosing poems for a bus? Well, first of all

(00:01:13) we go into the past. We're trying to find poems that are pretty short that are 14 lines or at most 16 lines so I can pick up my wh Auden

(00:01:26) Cheese of

(00:01:27) poetry of the English language from from the very start and range around and try and find classic terrific poems that might work. We also try to publish contemporary poems and often poems by local poets. So that gives me an opportunity to zero in on a Locale, Oregon or Washington Boston Chicago and really delve around and try to find some terrific short poems by local

(00:01:54) people. Could you recite a poem for For me that that you have up in the Subway or in a

(00:01:59) bus.

(00:02:00) Well, there's a poem by Langston

(00:02:02) Hughes. That's one of my favorites called luck. Sometimes a crumb falls from the tables of Joy. Sometimes a bonus flung to some people love is given to others Only Heaven.

(00:02:14) And there's another terrific one up now by N Scott momaday called the gift older more generous. We give each other. Hope the gift is ominous

(00:02:24) enough praise enough rope.

(00:02:26) I think that's good. What do you like that? Well, I think it's a it's a description

(00:02:32) of how friends couldn't a little chiding of how friends can in their support of each other a little fear that they can be easy on each other in a kind of rallying cry to

(00:02:43) No, I have to hold to a standard and it's a sweet

(00:02:48) poem from one writer to another I think

(00:02:51) why put poems in buses and subways. Well, first of all, it's a moment when

(00:02:56) people are often between or betwixt their available for that kind of concentration. I'm a complete believer in memorization and the poems are very short. I think that these poems can stay with you. If you ride the Subways frequently, you see them over the pier over a period of three months. You can really acquaint yourself and the poem can sink in

(00:03:24) It's just a wonderful wonderful

(00:03:27) very popular and much loved program. And I think it should be everywhere.

(00:03:31) What effect do you think these poems have on writers? I went to get some stamps the other day

(00:03:37) and used my little poetry Society AMEX card for the

(00:03:41) postage. No one said what is the Poetry Society do and I said well were the group that puts poems up in the subway. She said I absolutely love those poems and my children love those poems and we're now trying to write poems at

(00:03:52) supper and were swapping Rhymes. And I

(00:03:55) mean, this is a woman in her mid 30s with

(00:03:58) little children and working the post office and

(00:04:01) I think that it just it it exposes people to Really great poems and it's a source of spiritual nourishment.

Transcripts

text | pdf |

SPEAKER 1: You're not really looking for something. It's just that something happens to you while you're reading it. And you recognize that as an achievement on the part of the poet. First of all, I instantly want to reread it. The ending is so synced that it bounces me back to the beginning, if the language is beautiful, even if the thought is complicated. The sounds can be very seductive, and you want to figure out what the poet is after. You want to parse the mood, the apparition, the resolution of the feeling.

I think Robert Frost was right when he said a poem must, like ice on a hot stove, ride on its own melting. It gains in momentum. And it's a beautiful construction, a beautiful composition. And it takes a lot of labor and experience to know how to do that.

SPEAKER 2: Now, as head of the Poetry Society of America, you've placed poems in buses and subways across the US. How is choosing a poem for The New Yorker different than choosing poems for a bus?

SPEAKER 1: Well, first of all, we go into the past. We're trying to find poems that are pretty short, that are 14 lines or, at most, 16 lines. So I can pick up my WH Auden anthologies of poetry of the English language, from the very start, and range around, and try and find classic, terrific poems that might work. We also try to publish contemporary poems and often poems by local poets. So that gives me an opportunity to zero in on a locale, on Oregon, or Washington, Boston, Chicago, and really delve around and try to find some terrific short poems by local people.

SPEAKER 2: Could you recite a poem for me, that you have up in the subway or in a bus?

SPEAKER 1: Well, there's a poem by Langston Hughes, that's one of my favorites, called "Luck". Sometimes a crumb falls from the tables of joy. Sometimes a bone is flung. To some people, love is given, to others only heaven. And there's another terrific one up now by N Scott Momaday, called "The Gift". Older, more generous, we give each other hope. The gift is ominous, enough praise, enough rope. I think that's good.

SPEAKER 2: Why do you like that?

SPEAKER 1: Well, I think it's a description of how friends can-- a little chiding of how friends can, in their support of each other, a little fear that they can be easy on each other, and a rallying cry to, no, you have to hold to a standard. And it's a sweet poem from one writer to another, I think.

SPEAKER 2: Why put poems in buses and subways?

SPEAKER 1: Well, first of all, it's a moment when people are often between or betwixt. They're available for that kind of concentration. I'm a complete believer in memorization. The poems are very short. I think that these poems can stay with you. If you ride the subways frequently, you see them over a period of three months. You can really acquaint yourself, and the poem can sink in. It's just a wonderful, wonderful, very popular, and much loved program. And I think it should be everywhere.

SPEAKER 2: What effect do you think these poems have on writers?

SPEAKER 1: I went to get some stamps the other day and used my little Poetry Society Amex card for the postage. Then one said, what does the Poetry Society do? And I said, well, we're the group that puts poems up in the subways. She said, I absolutely love those poems. And my children love those poems. And we're now trying to write poems at supper, and we're swapping rhymes. I mean, this was a woman in her mid-thirties, with little children, and working in the post office. And I think that it just exposes people to really great poems. And it's a source of spiritual nourishment.

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