Adam Ash

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Saturday, June 04, 2005

Bookplanet: exposing 'fraudulent' poetry prizes

Foetry has been saying that the way poetry prizes is awarded is unfair and often "fraudulent." Here's a story about this site.
"The scourge of the poetry world is sipping black tea and nibbling almond cookies in the Tower of Cosmic Reflections on a drizzly Monday afternoon. The name of the teahouse may be grandiose but the scourge himself is anything but: Alan Cordle is a 36-year-old research librarian at Portland Community College who has wispy blond hair and pudgy cheeks. He drives a 1994 Honda Accord, likes to hike, and brews his own beer. "These cookies are great," he says with his mouth full. The man is harmlessness in blue slacks. Or is he? For the past year this chipper librarian has been moonlighting as the anonymous operator of a Web site devoted to exposing corruption in poetry contests, many of which are run by university presses. He has accused poets and publishers of fraud, demanded criminal investigations, and sent letters to the bosses of suspected wrongdoers listing their purported misdeeds. He has even given people mean nicknames." Full story here.
Reminds me of Henry Kissinger's crack about academic infighting being so fierce because the stakes are so small. Not that a poetry prize cannot make a huge difference in a poet's career.
In related news, Yale Professor Craphogger has invented a measuring device which rates pedigree dog breeds according to the stinkiness of their farts. He wants to adapt it to rate politicians' speeches.

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