Amy King incomparably flings some truth at arrogance over at The Rumpus: this is a must-read for the poetry reader. Amy takes on, and takes down, Marjorie Perloff, Vanessa Place and Kenneth Goldsmith, notably:

PART 1 HERE

PART 2 HERE

The notion that Conceptual Poetry is nothing new is nothing new per se, nor is the notion that Conceptual Art, like Pop Art, pretends to rebel while in reality capitulating to power and capital. But King’s brilliant prose really drives the point home, and makes Perloff’s arrogance and Goldsmith’s disingenuous posing really shine through. These are egregious cases indeed. Wow! Bravo Amy!

The only small concern might be that all discourse on people like Goldsmith only adds fuel to the fire—so some might argue, although I would certainly like to hear Amy comment on the efficacy (or lack thereof) of contesting groups like Conceptual Poetry and Flarf. She does briefly (regarding Goldsmith’s tweets: see Part Two), but I would hope to see more on why speaking up is still valid, necessary and somehow effective.

Bravo Amy!