Attention to Fiction

            I find it fascinating how, as soon as one starts to publish fiction, the world perks up and wants to talk.  I’ve published six books of poetry – three in Spanish, one bilingual, and three in English.  I’ve published reviews, essays on poetry, introductions and epilogues for other writers, and all the other side-bar appendages of writing as well. None of these have garnered as much immediate attention from the world as this first book of short stories, “Peach,” which has only been published recently.  It has, however, captured the interest of marketers already.

            I imagine it says more about the state of poetry in this country than it does short fiction.  Where the novel is king, perhaps short fiction is some sort of royal retainer, and poetry? -- scullery maid.

            I remember one autumn evening listening to Annie Proulx respond to the question of whether she wrote poetry.  Her response – “No. Poetry is too hard.”

            It is, apparently, too hard also for Americans to find sustenance from.  One can make a movie from a book, a narrative video from a song, but poetry does not lend itself to the visual surrogacy for imagination that the others can command.  We should not be surprised at the surge in popularity of adult comics and graphic novels – much easier to have others picture things for us, albeit hard to admit.