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
Concrete poets continue to turn out beautiful things, but to me theyre more visual than oral, and they almost really belong on the wall rather than in a book. I havent the least idea of where poetry is going. – James Laughlin
I think that concrete poetry seems to have, as far as I can see, come to a kind of a dead end. It doesnt seem to be going any further than it went in its high period of about five or six years ago. – 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
Short fiction is the medium I love the most, because it requires that I bring everything Ive learned about poetry – the concision, the ability to say something as vividly as possible – but also the ability to create a narrative that, though lacking a novels length, satisfies the reader. – Ron Rash