Frank Hecker - Interests - Poetry
I rediscovered poetry as an adult by reading Adrienne Rich (go
figure), who is still one of my favorites. Here's what I was reading
reading several years ago (I haven't updated this in a while):
- Alexander Pope's translation of the
Iliad.
This is well-worth reading,
especially if modern translations of Homer leave you cold.
It also has great footnotes, with frequent flashes of Pope's wit.
- Frank Bidart,
In the Western Night
and
Desire.
In my opinion one of the best American poets working today.
- Jorie Graham,
The Dream of the Unified Field: Selected Poems 1974-1994.
This book won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize in poetry,
but having read several of Graham's books I have to confess that
I find her a maddeningly inconsistent poet.
Some of the poems in Unified Field are excellent
(for example, "Self-Portrait as the Gesture between Them")
and others are complete clunkers ("Breakdancing" comes to mind).
(Graham's strengths and weaknesses are reminiscent of Wallace Stevens'.
A good rule of thumb: skip any poem that attempts to address social
or cultural issues.)
- The Poems of Catullus,
translated by Charles Martin;
Catullus,
also by Charles Martin;
and Catullus and His World by T.P. Wiseman.
(I got interested in reading Catullus through Frank Bidart's free adaptations
of two of his poems. They didn't teach us Catullus in my high-school Latin
class, but I have it on good authority that they do so now in many U.S.
schools.)
Some other poets I've read with enjoyment over the past few years,
with recommended books:
- Louise Glück,
The Triumph of Achilles,
The Wild Iris,
and others
- H.D.,
Trilogy and
Helen in Egypt
- Adrienne Rich,
The Fact of a Doorframe
- Muriel Rukeyser,
Out of Silence: Selected Poems or
A Muriel Rukeyser Reader
- Wallace Stevens
The Palm at the End of the Mind
And finally, some interesting books about poetry:
- Bruce Bawer, Prophets and Professors
- Tom Disch, The Castle of Indolence
- Dana Gioia, Can Poetry Matter?
- Louise Glück, Proofs and Theories
- Adrienne Rich, What is Found There
- Muriel Rukeyser, The Life of Poetry
- Helen Vendler (various)