Comments on: Kay Ryan on nonsense, poetry, and knowledge

By: Ann

Ann — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:01:21 +0000

I saw her read and “in conversation” (with Dana Gioia, was it?) at the last MLA. And she impressed me so much with her pragmatism and her creativity. Both–proof that you can be a daydreamer and a pragmatist simultaneously. Listening to her, I got the idea that she likes to entertain herself, she is accustomed to that. It’s how she grew up. Entertaining yourself with nonsense…that’s wonderful, and it results in things like art. So an off-rhyme is a small entertainment. Or a pun is entertaining. Rhythm. Etc…anyway, all things a reader can find in Ryan’s little poems.

When people like Kay Ryan win MacArthur fellowships, there is hope for us all. Readers will wonder who the heck she is, and read her work, and find interviews like the one you’ve posted here, and learn about poems and how they relate to thinking and human-ness. Anyway, one can hope.

By: JMartin

JMartin — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:52:37 +0000

Dioramas; call-and-response cliches; Brodsky; chill. Double that MacArthur grant, I say.

By: Dave Bonta

Dave Bonta — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 23:11:56 +0000

In reply to Dale Favier. The Beautiful and the Dangerous, by Barbara Tedlock -- one of the best books written about the Zuni. Which is saying a lot, actually. Glad you got a hold of it.

By: Robbi Nester

Robbi Nester — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 22:13:13 +0000

I too like it that she doesn’t take herself so seriously and is so direct! But there is actually a lot of substance there.

By: Dale Favier

Dale Favier — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:38:21 +0000

In reply to Dave Bonta. Oh, & I don't think I ever told you, I read that book you recommended! With "beautiful" and "dangerous" in the title. It was good.

By: Dave Bonta

Dave Bonta — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:13:05 +0000

In reply to Dale Favier. Oh good. Yeah, this is something I think that most so-called shamanistic traditions knew, but got lost at some point in the transition to professional priestly classes. But the Mayan Popol Vuh, for example, is quite clear on the importance of sleight-of-hand and clowning, and that came out of a high priestly tradition, one presumes. And you probably remember my posts about the role of clowning in Zuni religon, from back in 2004 I think...

By: Dale Favier

Dale Favier — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:57:35 +0000

Oh, thanks for this! Fantastic. And thanks for the transcript. I had to quote a whole para in the comments at Mole just now. That thing about taking something you just barely know and blowing it up: I thought, that’s it, that’s exactly what I’m trying to talk about, precisely what religious practice is all about for me. Of course it’s bogus! But how else can you do it?