Uncreative Writing by Kenneth Goldsmith

When in the poetry mood (which isn’t always), I have a penchant for listening to the podcast Poem Talk, who manage to find meaning no poet could possibly intend in their own work.

I listen to podcasts in one of two situations: listing in a hot bath or driving, alone.

Enjoyment of the forensic analysis espoused by the roundtable of planet-brained academics on Poem Talk is, after a time, soured by their inevitable inclination towards identity politics, something that seems to infect much of the mainstream poetry coverage I’ve found online nowadays, so on this particular occasion I pulled in at Southwaite Services for a slash and a takeaway cuppa at Greggs.

Christian Bök

Sipping my brew and scrolling through alternatives before setting off, I found a podcast whose production values were such that (as I found out ten minutes later) the audio was barely audible above 40mph - but the poet being interviewed was a breath of fresh air.

It was Christian Bök, a conceptual, experimental poet who’s matter of fact talk of process-driven objectivity, poetry-infused DNA, univolics, visual poetry and poetry in science was a shot in the arm after the political platitudes from the sisterhood at Kelly Writers House. Go and read about Christian Bök - he’s the real deal.

Kenneth Goldsmith

To cut a long story short, and because I want to get this post up as soon as possible, I found Kenneth Goldsmith linked from a web page on Christian Bök.

Kenneth was a concept artist who switched to poetry and…. To be continued.

- Started: 23 Aug 2022