Thanks to Kyle Minor for hosting a "Bill Knott week" last week on HMTL Giant blog—
and thanks to the contributors who took the time to write something for it—
I wish they had concentrated more on the poetry itself and less on the ways I have packaged and presented it to the public over the years,
but I'm grateful for any notice of my self-publications,
and hopeful that the attention drawn to those books will encourage a few more readers to give them a look.
*
And while I'm considering myself, let me boast a bit about my work:
Whatever their merit may ultimately be reckoned at, the 400-plus pages of my COLLECTED SONNETS 1970-2010 show an sustained engagement with and serious commitment to this form which is (I think) unique among contemporary USA poets.
I think I am (correct me if I'm wrong) the only living USA poet to have published a separate volume of their own political verse: SELECTED POLITICAL POEMS 1965-2010.
My collection of short poems—ALL MY THOUGHTS ARE THE SAME: COLLECTED SHORT POEMS 1960-2010—: I ask you, has any living USA poet published a similar volume? The most recent one before mine which I'm aware of is The Really Short Poems of A. R. Ammons (1990)—but other than that?
Has any poet other than myself put out a selection of their seasonal poems? A SALT OF SEASONS: WINTER SPRING SUMMER FALL POEMS. Which like all my books of poetry can be downloaded free via a link atop the sidebar of this and my other two blogs—
My POEMS FOR DEATH—have any of my contemporaries published a selection of their poems about death? Not to my knowledge. Again, my book is unique.
And: my SELECTED SYLLABIC VERSE— where are the similar volumes by other living USA poets? How many of them have published a selection of their syllabic verse?
How many poets have put together a selection like my POEMS FROM CHILDHOOD?
What about my (ACTING) POEMS: "Poems about acting—about performers of whatever sort—movies, TV, theater, et al. Poems in which an act of public (or private) performance (real or imagined) is central."
And my SURREALIST VERSE—?
And my book of HOMAGES—?
?
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I think my pride of book publications (see the complete list via the link atop sidebar)
is unique and unparalleled in contemporary USA poetry.
No other poet is putting out volumes comparable to mine.
Whatever their quality, whatever their provenance, whatever the defects of their packaging and presentation, whatever their shortcomings,
they are distinctive.
AND they are downloadable free through every modem in the world,
available at no cost to any reader who wants to have them:
help yourself.
With my thanks and best wishes.
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