Audience

When I received and read the January 2009 issue of Poetry, I loved the letter to the editor from Alice Pillsbury of Houston, Texas. Pillsbury wrote in representation of a poetry study group at Treemont Retirement Community. Their group had been reading and discussing poetry for four years when they decided to subscribe to Poetry. The letter expresses their disappointment with the magazine. To quote: "We cannot make head or tail out of your selected 'poems.' We agree that there is no rhyme and very little reason -- only phrases, snatches of words or thoughts in random order, with very little cohesion."

Now, there is a podcast available where Christian Wiman (Editor) and Don Share (Senior Editor) discuss the poems in the January issue, with Alice Pillsbury reporting on what her group thought of them. (This discussion begins at roughly 15:30 within the podcast.)

I like this discussion because everyone involved seems willing to be open and honest about his/her reaction to the poems.