by Anna Evans, a poet born in England but now living in the United States. She has the Web site Barefoot Muse, a Journal of Formal Metrical Verse:

http://www.barefootmuse.com

which I commend, the work of a very dedicated poet and editor, whose desire to promote formal metrical verse I certainly share.

The comments below are from the section 'Dreaming in Iambic Pentameter' at

http://www.barefootmuse.com/blog/?m=200612

In the discussion below, I'm referred to in the first paragraph and discussed in the final paragraph.

' I have a mixed bag of literary figures for you to consider: two dead and one alive, two English and one Portuguese, two men and one woman etc. etc. The main thing they have in common, as I see it, is writing with no other purpose primarily in mind BUT to write: no pressures of academia, no intent to conform to a given school, no drive to publish (other than that we all have, which is for others to be able to read our words.)

'I’ll start with Stevie Smith. In a recent Thrift Shop haul I acquired an early edition of Homage to Mistress Bradstreet, complete with newspaper clipping obituary of John Berryman from 1972, and a copy of Stevie, the unauthorized 1985 biography by Jack Barbera and William McBrien. (Each book cost me 25c. I imagine, if you spent any time waiting in line at Barnes & Noble or Borders this holiday period, that fact makes you feel a little sick.) Born in 1902, Stevie followed an unconventional path to poetry. She became a secretary after leaving secondary school, and was introduced to the London literary scene after the critical and commercial success of her first autobiographical novel Novel on Yellow Paper. Her poetry is quirky and filled with a black humor that has survived the decades. She never married, and rumor has it she died a virgin, although she had several love affairs with men in her twenties and thirties. She illustrated her own books of poems, and considered the possibility (rather than the execution) of suicide to be a redeeming feature of an imperfect life. She is not well known in the US, although she retains a following in the UK thanks in part to her best known and much anthologized poem, also one of my own personal favorites, “Not Waving But Drowning.” So, if you’re bored with the cookie cutter poetry served up in the likes of APR, you could do worse than google Stevie. You might even find one of her poetry books (Tender Only to One and A Good Time Is Had By All) in a Thrift Shop near you.

'My former teacher Stephen Dunn is lecturing at Bennington in January. Now I admire Stephen hugely, and his book of essays Walking Light is one of the reasons I am currently pursuing an MFA myself. When the letter came out with his lecture topic, therefore, it was natural for me to want to find out a little about it in advance. Who is Fernando Pessoa? I asked myself. It turns out to be a perplexing question. Fernando Pessoa was a Portuguese poet and man of letters famous not only for his poetry but also for his heteronyms. He wrote a vast body of material (fiction, essays, poetry, plays) under a number of pseudonyms, but was unique in claiming to feel the presence of each of these personalities as strongly (some would say stronger) than he did his own. Each heteronym had his own style: Alberto Caeiro was a natural poet of minimal formal education; Ricardo Reis was a classically educated modern pagan etc. etc. Again, Fernando had hardly any involvement with academic life–he worked as a professional writer and translator until his death from alcoholism in his early forties. My knowledge of his poetry is limited, although I plan to use the gift card from my good friend KB to purchase the newest selected translation, but his essay collection Always Astonished is a must read. He was a unique genius: he knew that the Russian Revolution would not produce a communist utopia before it occurred, and he recognized Po-Biz seventy years before the name was coined. He has plenty to say on the subject of poetic endeavor, but I’ll confine myself to some much needed words of encouragement:

'Whoever at his death leaves behind one beautiful line of verse leaves the skies and the earth richer and the reason for there being stars and people more emotionally mysterious.

'Finally in this list I offer you a contemporary writer and thinker, Paul Hurt. I don’t know too much about Mr. Hurt, except that he is, like the other two, a total original unassociated with academia. I came across him because he has written a meticulously thought out essay on Jared Carter’s poetry. Then I browsed around his site, assuming he was a poet, and realized that he is much more than that.'

In the profiles, as in other material on the site, I make use of argument and evidence. I don't use Twitter or Facebook. I see the need for criticism to be based on argument and evidence, with sufficient detail to make a case. Anyone who finds the criticism unfair is welcome to contact me, with counter-arguments and evidence, with sufficient detail to make a case. If I find the representation reasonable and convincing, I'll revise the material, taking account of the objections, if they seem legitimate, or remove the material completely from the site ...

[But anyone who's the subject of a profile who is facing very severe problems is welcome to contact me, without giving much detail at all, and I may well remove the profile even if it can't be claimed that it's unfair.]

[In the email to this particular vicar, I went on to make a specific comment on Christian belief and believers]

It would be very mistaken to give Christian believers immunity from criticism.  It would be very mistaken to believe that the Christian Churches are obvious forces for good ...

Owners of hotels, cafes, campsites, actors and musicians who take part in public performances, authors and  people in local and national politics and many other people, of course, have to be ready to receive reviews and comments of the most varied kinds, sometimes hostile. For some reason, clergy and laity aren't the subject of scrutiny and criticism nearly as often. The profiles of the pages on Christian religion are a corrective I hope, drawing attention to matters so often overlooked.

I see the need not to give too much attention to well-known names, people whose profile in the media is prominent but to give coverage to people not well known at all. If their viewpoint seems stupid, indefensible, then why not put the case against, or the case for and against, or point out some contradictions? Only a tiny minority can be scrutinized, but even so, the contradictions of people, sometimes fascinating or endearing, sometimes grotesque or hideous, are surely a study well worth pursuing.