I'm glad Ron pointed out that interview, though. I like how he tries to historicize the poetry phenomena - rare thing on the noisy blogways. Even when he gets it all distorted (in my view).

Ignatow's embattled-existentialist attitude doesn't really appeal to me. I lean more toward the Whitman-type negative capability or idealism which he seems to renounce.

He saw himself as battling the pioneers of the new academic poets (Berryman, Lowell, et al.). But they were just opening the doors for the next generation - his & WCW's heirs - the thousand flowers of MFA.