Subject: bands of brothers
From: Scottie Bowman (rbowman@indigo.ie)
Date: Thu Jul 04 2002 - 03:03:16 EDT
OK, another bucket of cold water from You-Know-Who.
But do these huddles of aspiring writers serve any good purpose
whatever? It seems to me there's far, far too much writing
in the world already & that everything should be done
to discourage further pollution of the atmosphere.
The only thing ever worth writing is a masterpiece.
And I'm afraid the people who write them are driven on
by forces far stronger than the encouragement of their peers
- offered, in the main, out of courtesy & the hope of reciprocal
praise. Nor will they be deterred by criticism from the same
source - prompted, usually, more by envy than appreciation.
I know the 'little magazines' feature in the biographies of some
great artists. But for every Querschnitt there were a million
'New Poetrys' or 'New Writings' or 'Wafflings'.
And on each page of contents, for every Pound or Hemingway,
were twenty million Jack Whosits & Susan Whatshies -
their bones long since whitened in the deserts of time.
When I think of all the writing classes, the writers clubs,
the cybermags, seeding densely nowadays throughout America
& Europe - & soon, no doubt, in darkest Africa & Asia
as well - each one egged on by a kindly (if illiterate) instructor -
the heart just shrivels & dies.
Scottie B.
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