I think that is where poetry reading becomes such an individual thing. I mean I have friend who like poets who just dont say anything to me at all, I mean they seem to me rather ordinary and pedestrian. – James Laughlin
I think theres no excuse for the American poetry reader not knowing a good deal about what is going on in the rest of the world. – James Laughlin
Of course a poem is a two-way street. No poem is any good if it doesnt suggest to the reader things from his own mind and recollection that he will read into it, and will add to what the poet has suggested. But I do think poetry readings are very important. – James Laughlin
Then, of course, there are those sad occasions when a poet or a writer has not grown, and one has to let them go because theyre just not making headway. But we have a very clear personal relationship with the authors. – James Laughlin