Ariz.: Oryx Press, 2000), pp. 224–228; also useful is the entry on the “Aca-
demic Study of Humor,” pp. 1–6.RESOURCES
Primary Works
Kiera Butler, “Spreading the Word,” Mother Jones (16 October 2007) http://www.
motherjones.com/media/2007/10/spreading-word [accessed 16 December
2009].
Pinsky discusses a range of topics from his mission to make poetry popular to his
interests in “high” and popular culture (Emily Dickinson, hip-hop, The Simpsons).
Ben Downing and Daniel Kunitz, “The Art of Poetry No. 76,” Paris Review, 144
(Fall 1997): 180–213.
Interview in which Pinsky discusses the role of Judaism in his childhood and
didactic elements in his work.
Elizabeth Farnsworth, “America’s Wordsmith,” interview with Robert Pinsky, The
NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, 2 April 1997, transcript and audio version avail-
able at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/april97/poet_4-
2.html [accessed 16 December 2009].
Pinsky discusses his appointment as poet laureate and anticipates projects he will
undertake in this role; he also recites “To Television.”
Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, “Thrilling Difficulty: An Interview with Robert Pinsky,”
Guernica (November 2007) http://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/430/
thrilling_difficulty/ [accessed 16 December 2009].
Pinsky discusses his multiple influences, including the early influence of music,
his ideas about accessibility or difficulty in poetry, and the role of political opinion
in poetry.
“My Favorite Show; Robert Pinsky on ‘The Simpsons,’” New York Times, 20 Sep-
tember 1998 http://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/20/magazine/my-favorite-
show-robert-pinsky-on-the-simpsons.html [accessed 16 December 2009].
Discusses Pinsky’s reasons for liking The Simpsons.
“Statement of Conscience,” in Poets against the War, edited by Sam Hamill and
others (New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2003), pp. 180–181; also avail-
able at http://www.poetsagainstwar.com/chapbook.asp#Pinsky [accessed
16 December 2009].
Written in February 2003, explains reasons for Pinsky’s declining an invitation to
the White House during the presidency of George W. Bush. They include protest
against the war in Iraq and the Bush administration’s tax proposals and policy on
affirmative action.
“Robert Pinsky,” in Ecstatic Occasions, Expedient Forms: 85 Leading Contemporary
Poets Select and Comment on Their Poems, edited by David Lehman, second edi-
tion (1987; Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996), pp. 175–177.
Discusses the relationship between form and content in “The Want Bone.”