At a recent luncheon honoring the year-long tenure of Poet Laureate Mona Van Duyn, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington congratulated the 1991 Pulitzer prize-winning poet on her more recent accomplishments.
"She has brought wisdom and style to the role of Poet Laureate of the United States," he said. "During her special time at the Library, she has given us two new kinds of literary programs: readings for children, as exemplified with the recent evening with Lloyd Alexander, and dramatic readings, which included the very successful rendition of James Merrill's "Voices from Sandover.
In response, Ms. Van Duyn read a poem from her recent book of poetry, Firefall. Titled "Endings," she explained that the work came to her when she had "ambivalent attitudes about endings; that I couldn't bear to end a book I was engrossed in but needed to know the ending." The poem, in particular part 2 and dealing with programming one's VCR, was dedicated to Howard Nemerov, her good friend and recently deceased Poet Laureate.
The enthusiastic audience included her husband, Jarvis Thurston, The Washington Post's Sarah Booth Conroy and David Streitfeld, former Congressman James Symington, past Consultants in Poetry Anthony Hecht, Josephine Jacobsen and Reed Whittemore and fellow poets Linda Pasten and Henry Taylor. Representing the Madison Council were Ann Brownson, Joan Challinor, Mrs. Jefferson Patterson and Mitzi Perdue.
Following her reading, questions were allowed from guests, but the Laureate demurred with, "I have no answers left!" Mr. Symington then asked the Librarian, "What is to be done to maximize the appointment of the Laureate, and what can the Library do to help promulgate the virtues of poetry nationwide to reach the optimum audience?"
Dr. Billington replied that "the Library's first responsibility was to select outstanding Laureates," and that he "hoped to see improvement in attracting more attention to the post through increased use of media and more cross-country visits."
Luncheon guest and poet Grace Cavalieri remarked that "when Mona reads a poem, we always learn something new. When she read 'Endings' today, her pacing reminded us the poem is a testament to self- worth and deserves all the time that it takes. The way she reads poetry says the poem is worthy of time. This is one of the most important lessons she leaves from her tenure."
The Poet Laureate had more to say later that spring evening when she delivered a lecture in the Library's Montpelier Room. The lecture, curiously titled "Help Urgently Wanted: 500 Honest, Talented Reviewers of Poetry Who Will Receive No Salary and Find No Place to Publish Their Reviews (A Lecture from Which the Audience May Learn More About the Current State of American Poetry than It Ever Wished to Know"), was hailed by a standing- room-only crowd.
Her audience sensed they were in for an earful. Their expectations were fulfilled. She related many of her own awkward experiences at the hands of those in control of mass publicity and communication, including television producers, book reviewers and poetry-magazine editors, authors and even fellow poets.
Said Ms. Van Duyn, "Something astonishing has happened in the last 20 years. We have become a nation of writers, not readers; there are 20 million poets out there. The problem does not seem to be with the number of people interested in poetry and literature, as one in every 12 or 13 people writes poetry, and at least 1,000 people are attending readings every night in your larger cities. They are now reading in coffee houses, civic centers, open mikes at bars, universities, and so on and over the years, attendance is steadily increasing."
She continued with an assault on television and the movies, which she said offer no forums for people to hear and learn about poetry.
"The writers are out there," she said, "but [they are working for] PR firms, or even working for Hallmark - - doing anything to give them time to write poetry. And poets today make their living doing readings; very little comes in from book sales. Incomes are low and sales are down."
Ms. Van Duyn also told of her experiences in judging entries for various poetry contests and prizes, including the prestigious Bollingen Prize for Poetry. Because of so many candidates, judges are overwhelmed by the mountains of material. The quantity far outmatches the quality.
She then rebuked the critics for their lack of breadth, knowledge and vision in bringing their thoughts to the public.
She noted that newspapers never review poetry readings and that literary journals are sources for "the most blatant discrimination and attempts to discredit writers."
During the reception in her honor, Lou Mortimer, chief of the Library's Federal Research Division, commented on the Laureate's approach: "She is low-key, forthright and has a typically Midwest, heartfelt manner. The thoroughness of her presentation and her knowledge of the American culture succeeds within us, but she also maintains that certain gift of graciousness and levity."
During her time at the Library as Poet Laureate, a number of distiunguished poets and authors read, including: Donald Justice and Eavan Boland, Louise Gluck and Mark Strand (co-winners of the 1992 Bobbitt Prize), novelist Edna Buchanan, Richard Bausch and William Maxwell, Jean McGarry, and during a colloquium on American poetry, panelists Joseph Brodsky, Denis Donoghue, Czeslaw Milosz, Anthony Hecht, Mark Strand, David Lehman and Rosanna Warren.
Ms. Van Duyn also wrote several poems about the new president and the change of administration. The first, which she read on the "Charlie Rose Show," is called, "For William Clinton, President- Elect," the second, which appeared excerpted in the Feb. 1 New Yorker, was "On Seeing a TV Shot of Mrs. Bush, Her Arm Around the Younger Woman's Waist, Leading Mrs. Clinton into the White House."
