Robert Creely (or Creeley) has a wonderful story about a post reading party. An eager PhD student came to him with much excitement and asked about the meaning of a poem. Robert then read the poem back to the scholar. The PhD student assuming a drink related misunderstanding, repeated his question with more detail reference and terminology. Robert C. kindly stated that the question was clearer and as a response he read the poem back again. This continued two more times, until the PhD student left in frustration.
Why this story: while there is nothing wrong with lit criticism, and in fact it provides for poet’s careers, most writer’s neither want to or know how to write about their own work.
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