popular but lesser

Among themselves, poets tend to discount the talent of celebrity poets.

turn to poetry

Note to celebrities who turn to poetry: Leave it to the poets, those language toilers who will never have the least measure of your fame.

phenom poet

They had made her so famous so fast that no one would ever take her seriously. She was now phenomenon, not a person.

known unknown

Save me from the celebrity poet: Give me the ignored poet, uneasy with attention, that’s who I want to read.

rockstar poet

There are about one-hundred rockstar poets. Rockstars in the sense that they could command a good paycheck for a reading at a university auditorium or local arts center; not in the sense that they could fill even the lower tier in a small civic arena.

known unknown

To twist Stevens’ assertion: The poet must resist celebrity almost successfully.