Poetry for Students

112 Poetry for Students

You have recently published an intriguing li-

bretto for the operaNosferatu based on the silent

German expressionist film directed by F. W. Mur-

nau. What drew you to this particular retelling of

the Dracula myth?

The subject chose me. I was looking for an idea

for a libretto, and by lucky coincidence I happened

to read an essay on Murnau by my friend Gilberto

Perez. By the time I had finished the piece I knew

that this was the subject, the only possible subject for

the opera the composer Alva Henderson and I were

planning. What drew me to Nosferatuwas the depth

and complexity of the heroine, and the symbolic pos-

sibilities of the vampire myth. Opera is the last sur-

viving form of poetic theater, and I wanted a subject

that would allow my imagination a wild freedom.

To what extent did your background in musi-

cal composition influence your decision?

I knew I wanted to write a libretto that revived

and explored traditional musical forms—arias,

duets, trios, choruses, and ensembles. I also wanted

the language and the dramatic structure to be in-

herently lyrical. I had no interest in writing a prose

drama to be set to music. I tried to give every scene

a dramatic shape embodied in musical and poetic

structures.

When can we hope to see a staging of your

opera?

Rimrock Operawill mount the world premiere

in Billings, Montana and Boise, Idaho. Meanwhile

two concert performances are being staged in Chat-

tanooga. Two groups in New York also want to

stage Nosferatu—Verse Theatre Manhattan and the

Derriere Guard Arts Festival—but it remains to be

seen if they can raise the money. Opera is an ex-

traordinarily expensive art form. When we began

the project, I told Alva that I wanted to perform ex-

cerpts of our work-in-progress because even suc-

cessful new operas achieve so few productions. We

have already produced showcases in Georgia, Cal-

ifornia, Texas, Illinois, Connecticut, Colorado, and

Pennsylvania—and portions of the music have been

broadcast by the BBC, KPFA, and several NPR

affiliates—so a surprising number of people have

heard some of the music.

You have published a number of college text-

books, includingLiterature: An Introduction to Fic-

tion, Poetry, and Drama co-edited by X. J. Kennedy,

an anthology I have used for a number of years.

Has this been a rewarding experience for you?

Editing anthologies has been enormously in-

teresting and rewarding. It has also been exhaust-

ing. To edit them responsibly, I must constantly

read and reread poems, stories, plays, and scholar-

ship to make the right selections. I am also perpet-

ually writing critical overviews, historical notes,

author biographies, and commentaries. In the dozen

or so anthologies I have published in the last

decade, I have published well over a million words

of critical prose. I sometimes feel I am living in an

eternal finals week. My private goal has been to

manage this task without ever letting the writing

become dull or insipid—in other words never to let

it sound like most textbooks.

Why do you work so hard on textbooks?

Because they are so important. A great an-

thology can change a student’s life. A dull one can

turn him or her away from literature forever. I take

anthologies seriously because they represent the

logical extension of my concerns as a poet and

critic. What better way is there to correct, improve,

and expand literary taste? I also love to bring new

or neglected writers to a broader audience.

On what current projects are you working?

I have too many projects. Graywolf Press will

publish a tenth anniversary edition of Can Poetry

Matter?in late 2002, and I am writing a special in-

troduction about the reception and impact of the

book. I am also putting together a new collection of

critical essays. I am now just finishing up two large

anthologies on twentieth century American poetry

and poetics. I’m co-editing these ambitious and

comprehensive books with David Mason and Meg

Schoerke. The critical apparatus is itself several

hundred pages long, and it gives me the opportu-

nity to discuss writers and issues I have not written

on before. I also plan to edit an anthology of Cali-

fornia poetry with Chryss Yost for Heyday Books,

as part of the California Legacy Project. I am also

writing a second opera libretto—a phantasmagoric

one-act work that mixes comedy and tragedy—for

the composer Paul Salerni. And I hope to finish a

few new poems. No rest for the wicked.

You recently won the American Book Award

forInterrogations at Noon. Has the prize changed

your life in any way?

The award made me slightly more respectable

in official circles. More important, it greatly im-

pressed my nine-year-old son, Mike, who likes the

gold-foil sticker that went on the cover of my book.

I was pleased to win a prize for my poetry since

my criticism so often dominates my public image.

I was also delighted to win an award given by

a jury of writers, who were all strangers. Mostly,

I consider the event sheer good luck, which should

be enjoyed but not taken too seriously.

The Litany