S184B. Poetry Has Value: Exploring the Tricky Intersections of Poetry, Money, and Worth

Room 101, Washington Convention Center, Level One
Saturday, February 11, 2017
12:00 pm to 1:15 pm

 

Poetry doesn't pay: it's a cliché and a statistical truth. But why? Paying poets for their work is a concept stymied by many obstacles, from the utilitarian (no money) to the logistical (no audience) to the philosophical (poetry is the most spiritual genre, ruined by commodification). But... is it possible to pay poets? Is it important? This panel will interrogate poetry's place in the financial/capitalistic world, while questioning how money promotes or complicates its many nonmonetary values.


Participants

Moderator:

Jessica Piazza is the author of thee poetry collections: Interrobang, Obliterations (with H.A O'Neill), and This is not a sky. She holds a CW/ English PhD from USC where she now teaches writing, and she curates the Poetry Has Value project, which explores topics of poetry, money, and worth.

Stephanie Young's most recent book is URSULA or UNIVERSITY. Her editorial projects include Bay Poetics, A Megaphone (with Juliana Spahr), and Deep Oakland (with Lara Durback.) She is a current member of the Krupskaya Books collective, and she teaches creative writing at Mills College.

Elizabeth Onusko is the author of the poetry collection Portrait of the Future with Trapdoor. She edits Foundry, is a founding editor and former publisher of Guernica, and has fundraised for arts and educational organizations including the Metropolitan Opera and Sarah Lawrence College.

Manjula Martin is editor of anthology SCRATCH: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living. She founded Scratch magazine and Who Pays Writers; she's written for VQR, Pacific Standard, and others. She is managing editor of Zoetrope: All-Story and lives in San Francisco.

Dan Brady is the author of Cabin Fever / Fossil Record and Leroy Sequences. He is the poetry editor of Barrelhouse.

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