“Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important.”
T.S. Eliot “The Artist is no other than he who unlearns what he has learned, in order to know himself.” E.E. Cummings The majority of art these days – particularity fiction writing - would be more accurately described as fantasy. For many artists, the value of their work is clouded by the experience of the creative process with which it was produced. It is pure mental masturbation. Poetry-by-numbers. Creative writing-class pulp fiction escapism. Critical enquiry into fundamental questions – in art as well as philosophy – has never been of greater importance. But these must be grounded in objective values and patient observation of a that is at once world beyond us, yet ourselves. There must be an underlying understanding of the biological roots of our species, of the unfathomable universe and of the naked science of self-observation. Most poetry is published because it has the sound of poetry. Because it is laid out vertically on the page and read in a high-toned voice. But it doesn’t get to the heart of things, nor does it try to anymore. Like Bukowski said, they don’t “show any moxie.”
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AuthorEnglish teacher from the UK. Living in Granada. Currently working in Doha. Archives
February 2022
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