dumbfoundry

Calvin Trillin, a columnist for The Nation, is about to released Obliviously On He Sails: The Bush Administration in Rhyme.

Each week, he writes short, rhyming doggerel for The Nation, a magazine known more for its left-wing politics than poetry. Trillin finds poetic inspiration in politicians.

A collection of his verse, to be published by Random House in June, is titled Obliviously On He Sails: The Bush Administration in Rhyme. [...]

Monday night in New York, Trillin was emcee for the Authors Guild Foundation's benefit gala, which honored former poet laureate Robert Pinsky and poetry editor Alice Quinn.

Trillin, an essayist and former reporter for The New Yorker, noted the irony of inviting a "doggerelist" to appear with two serious poets whose work doesn't rhyme. He compared it to having John Grisham introduce an avant-garde novel.

The Authors Guild is an 82-year-old organization designed to "protect writing as a livelihood." In that spirit, Trillin discussed the economics of poetry, in which hundreds of dollars can be earned.

He says The Nation pays him $100 a poem, which explains why "there is never a big crowd in front of the poetry booth at career fairs."

This entry was posted by eeksypeeksy on Thursday, April 15, 2004 at 8:50 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.