Where we struggle to imagine a future beyond the contemporary shitshow, nihilism leads the retreat inwards; in art as in politics. “What good is a flourishing poetry market,” Watts asked, “If what we read in poetry books renders us more confused, less appreciative of nuance, less able to engage with ideas, more indignant about the things that annoy

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To your question about what people starting out can do, I think there has been a crisis in criticism. I mean that in the most expansive way—not just hardcore criticism, but consideration of art. Think about the first album from some little band down the street from me. Who will write a review of that on the internet? No one. It was always hard to

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