Still cogitating over my avant-garden. That Evans essay (which appears in this book) might help; also potentially useful is the new book by Robert Baker, The Extravagant: Crossings of Modern Poetry and Modern Philosophy. Baker was a professor at mine at the University of Montana, and was and is one of the most brilliant people I've ever shared airspace with. The fact that he'd collected his PhD (in comparative literature) at Cornell was my major inspiration for coming here. I need to digest his introduction at least, but I think he provides a suitably broad perspective on modern poetry (both historically and geographically) as to provide a perspective from which I can maybe determine if the avant-garde project remains a plausible one.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to hearing the poetry of two very fine poets whose gardens grow with wild abundance: Jasper Bernes and Karl Parker. Please visit the website of Soon Productions for more information on their reading, happening tomorrow at 7 PM.