POETRY RECESSION: AN OXYMORON

Poets, you know, are always drinking in bars; I’m not drinking in bars; I’m at home reading, working, writing — that’s a modern poet. The modern poet is the poet that is involved with health, work, discipline, and which does not deny the fun of living. We are all very complex beings, but we have to be serious about the discipline of what we do. And I defend publicly and privately poetry as health, poetry as a lucidity that also depends on sweat and hard work, and a lucidity that depends on persistence.
--Jose Kozer

Cuban poet Jose Kozer has written 51 books! I'm such a slacker: after 14 years, I've only managed 18 (print) books! No. 19 and 20 are scheduled....but 51? I need to up moi game!

Who'd read so many books by a poet? That's a poetry economics question, which is to say, not that relevant.

Especially nowadays? To wit, perhaps moi version of this Great Recession is that August is the first month in 2010 where nothing got purchased from the Amazon account I set up for, among other things, Meritage Press' books. Well poop.

Which leads me to my modest antidote -- my latest recent Bought Poetry List, naturally headed by Jose Kozer's book. This Bought Poetry List tracks my purchases of not just poetry books but books in other genre by poets (moithinks I need to up this game, too!):

STET by Jose Kozer

HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES: FROM INDIOS BRAVOS TO FILIPINOS by Luis H. Francia

MORE FROM SERIES MAGRITTE by Mark Young

OVERTIME: SELECTED POEMS by Philip Whalen, Ed. Michael Rothenberg

ARCHIPELAGO DUST by Karen Llagas (Special Release Offer HERE)

HARD TO PLACE: ONE FAMILYS JOURNEY THROUGH ADOPTION, poetry therapy memoir by Marion Goldstein