I've felt this way since I began writing and publishing poems in my early-20s. Back when Len Fulton's "Directory of Little Magazines, Small Presses, and Underground Newspapers" changed dramatically from year to year. U of Nebraska press just brought out a facsimile edition of Ted Kooser's wonderful 1980 anthology, "The Windflower Home Almanac of Poetry," which was my first anthology publication and a book that still has an openness and energy that for me is hard to find these days. Many of the poets in that book, me included, may remain largely unknown, but that "shadow workforce" created the fervor that's been codified and too often tamed by MFA programs.
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I've felt this way since I began writing and publishing poems in my early-20s. Back when Len Fulton's "Directory of Little Magazines, Small Presses, and Underground Newspapers" changed dramatically from year to year. U of Nebraska press just brought out a facsimile edition of Ted Kooser's wonderful 1980 anthology, "The Windflower Home Almanac of Poetry," which was my first anthology publication and a book that still has an openness and energy that for me is hard to find these days. Many of the poets in that book, me included, may remain largely unknown, but that "shadow workforce" created the fervor that's been codified and too often tamed by MFA programs.
I'll have to get a copy of that anthology, Joseph. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
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