Permit me to cut through the chaff of this ‘Oh, woe! I am a white, male poet…’

‘…who is utterly too privileged to be allowed to stay a white, male poet in this milieu’ nonsense.  I don’t actually want to slam Conor Friedersdorf’s response: it’s kindly meant, I don’t actually disagree with most of it, and I suppose that sometimes you have to try to talk to these people in the manner to which they are accustomed. However, this is a ‘problem’ that can be solved fairly concisely:

• If you are a poet who is concerned that the state of poetry is such that not enough new voices are being heard, and if you have a high enough stature that you can be an effective sponsor of new voices, do so.
• If you do not have a high enough stature, acquire that stature first.

See? Simple, straightforward, and you can get back to writing poetry with all due speed.

Moe Lane

PS: Some silly people might complain that this strategy permits white, male poets to still participate in the poetry industry.  Indeed it does, and let me be even more clear about my stance: cries of ‘oppression!’ will only take you so far. It certainly won’t compensate for a fundamental lack of talent. So if this advice is stomping all over your business plan, then so much the worse for your business plan.