Dear Vivek, Thank you for your letter, a very thought-provoking and erudite piece. I agree with absolutely everything you say and really wish that some of my writer-friends with whom I have shared my work for so many years for their comments/feedback raised the issue you did before I went to print. I myself was divided about the whole private-public nature of comments from other writers and could not decide on which way to go maybe I fell for the seductive nature of praise from writers one admires, and now I feel I should not have clearly my human folly. But your letter convinces me that one should absolutely stay clear of using private comments shared among writers for public spaces, and in the future this is the dictum I shall follow. Thanks for being utterly honest Vivek a very rare quality in an Indian writer. I do not want to enter into a public discussion on this further for the very same reasons you have pointed out, but privately I am happy to talk and discuss. I hope you respect that.
As for the poem Kiss, the version posted had a misspelling, a mistake made by the webmaster/data entry person. The site has not been updated for years, but the word will be changed to languorous at the first opportunity. The other thing I want to do is to drop the phrase an haiku altogether and just have the title as a single word. Vivek thank you again for your comments and your sense of grace. I very much appreciate it, I really do. Do write back. best wishes, Sudeep ------------------------------------ Quoting Vivek Narayanan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Hi Sudeep, > > I have a question about this below-- did you get permission from > Brodsky > to use , as part of publicity material, his line that he had > written on > your ms of early poems? I ask this question to the list because > I know > that these are very complex issues without very clear lines of > right and > wrong, and because it raises questions of literary etiquette that > we > should think about and discuss as a group. It would certainly > affect > the comments that I would write on other people's poems. > > I ask also because at the moment I'm going through a great deal > of worry > wondering if I should ask people who have written nice things > about my > work privately to me if I could excerpt the more precise and > pertinent > of those things for book-jacket blurbs or if, instead, they would > at > least be willing to write some more restrained and objective > blurbs for > public circulation. Perhaps I may not even ask. Certainly I > would not > use their words without asking: this is publicity, very different > from > including a borrowed line into a poem. I don't doubt that they > meant > what they wrote; but in personal communication those comments > were also > no doubt expressions of love and tenderness, intended especially > to > encourage me on my way and not to tout me to the world. I don't > want to > misuse that tenderness. I think, and I would understand if this > was the > case, that they might be embarassed to see those private comments > widely > available as product endorsements, or worse, as brand > endorsements. I > also think that the reason why so many major poets -- including > major > Indian poets -- are so reticent (see Brian's article) is > precisely > because of the fear that something they might say or write in a > very > particular context might be turned by people that they don't know > well > into endorsements, trading by association on their name and > reputation. > It is frightening to lose control over what one has said. > > It is my humble opinion that, if you had not gotten permission to > use > that line of his for that purpose --under the heading, "Praise > for > Sudeep Sen"-- you should seriously consider removing the Brodsky > quote > from your publicity material. It might mean a loss of cachet, > but > eventually the poems have to be relied on to tell their own story > and > defend themselves. From listening to your story, it seems to me > that > Brodsky (a notoriously generous man) had made a wonderful, > intimate, > encouraging gesture to a young poet by writing that line on the > ms. I > can't shake the feeling, excuse me for saying this, that you > have > turned his gesture and generosity into a commodity. > > Similarly, the line from Derek Walcott that you had used in your > > invitation card to the book launch, which upset me, I'm sorry. > (Incidentally, I think you have quoted that line from memory and > made a > mistake, or altered the original line-- do check on this.) Of > course it > was very different, even murkier thing, because you had not > stated it as > an endorsement. Nevertheless, even if you hadn't intended this > at all, > the positioning of the line on the invitation card, without > stating the > name of the poem it was quoted from, made some people think that > it was > written as an endorsement of your book. Do you know Derek, had > you > spoken to him about this? I ask because one of the many things I > really > respect about Derek is that he makes a point of very rarely > giving > endorsements in print to any poet, young or old, even if he might > really > like their work [unless they are one of the dead masters he so > worships]. I have a feeling it's something he's very serious > about. > The only exceptions I can think of are his review essays on Les > Murray, > etc, in What the Twilight Says and a blurb for Glyn Maxwell, his > former > student at BU, and even that was not for Maxwell's first book but > (I > think) for his second or third book, long after Maxwell was > already well > established and celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic. And > long long > after Derek had, so I hear, praised and directed Maxwell as a > bright > young student. > > So I think if in future you are going to use that Walcott line, > you > should be sure at least to mention the poem that it is quoted > from, and > make sure the quote is correct. Same, at the very least, for the > > Brodsky. And same for the other endorsements in the bio-- if you > have > permission, to state the source of the quote. This is my > feeling, let > me know what you think. > > The point is, and I well understand this, is that self-promotion > is an > unavoidable need for poets, not least as a way of standing one's > ground, > showing one's conviction and faith, standing behind one's own > process, > work and poetic choices-- and those of the other poets one > respects and > is close to, as well. But what are the boundaries, how should > this be > done? I would like to conceive what needs to be done (naively, > perhaps) > not as self-promotion, but as self-representation. And then to > think > about what that means and what its limits should be. Walt > Whitman was > apparently happy to ghost-write a glowing review of his own book > under > a pseudonym, but I don't think I would go that far. > > An unrelated issue-- in your poem, "Kiss: An Haiku" [I think the > title > might sound less awkward if it was just "Kiss: Haiku"], is the > spelling > of languorous as langurous intentional? Or perhaps a mistake of > the > web-master / data entry person? > > Yours, > Vivek > > > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [ZESTPoets] Re: Robinsonade by Joseph Brodsky (1994) > Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 21:23:50 +0100 > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Reply-To: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > References: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > Brodsky was one of my early mentors during my many years in New > York City in late 80s/early 90s ... he inscribed the first line > of > this poem as a response to my modest writings (at the time, a > draft > version on a one of my manuscripts that I shared with him) ... > thanks for bringing back memories ... > > > > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > --------------------~--> > Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. 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