Thursday, October 05, 2006

Who Covered It?

Which literary journalists covered the ULA's two-part report of the takeover of a small press organization by monied people and large corporations? Any of them?

Why not? What does their silence indicate?

Has Maud Newton, who likes to post tons of verbiage on her blog, said anything? How can she, when she herself will be a participant in the scam $350 writers conference? (To "confer" assumes a rough equality between the parties-- at least not complete subserviance on the part of one of them. This "conference" is a one-way street.)

Individuals like Maud of course aren't writers. They're apparatchiks. Our literary system has the characteristics of the Soviet literary system back in the day. Contentious ideas are just as likely to be brought to life.

(When the first part of the Report went up on the ULA site, I mailed out over 90 flyers to various lit-folk and organizations summarizing my findings. I haven't seen a response from them to date. When I can, I'll begin listing these people. Insularity bordering on corruption needs to be dragged into the light of day.)

4 comments:

jimmy grace said...

1. Insult Maud Newton on a number of occasions.

2. Complain that Maud Newton doesn't respond to your e-mails or agree with your opinions.

One can do (1) or (2) but not both.

Jimbo said...

Was he complaining or just stating a fact? I think you're attributing your own motives to peoples actions. Maybe we're not dying for attention. We just want to expose anti-democratic structures that we believe have a negative impact upon our lives (or at least that's my case).

King Wenclas said...

Boy, "Grace," how does a kid in Oakland know who Maud is?
I don't care what she does with my e-mails (I don't send her any), and I don't at all expect her to agree with me.
But here's the point: Maud will not cover stories by people she disagrees with.
I'm pointing out the closed nature of American literature today-- a place where dissent isn't tolerated. Maud is simply one example of many.
(Also, a little history: Maud was insulting me and the ULA long before we'd heard of her.)

chilly charlie said...

How would a kid in Oakland know Maud? When he's a fat boozer in Jersey City who has no career.