If you read only the national newspapers, you might be surprised by what other papers cover — by what those lesser lights consider news. I recently enjoyed The Stanford Daily’s account of a reading by Mary Ruefle, even though the article was a year old.
I’d somehow managed to get this far without knowing about Ruefle. The student newspaper helped me discover an interesting poet.
From the article I learned:
• That Ruefle wrote a poem called “The Bark,” about a dog barking in response to its echo over a lake. She compares the image to the process of making poetry.
• That Ruefle began her poem “Snow” with the line: “Every time it starts to snow, I would like to have sex.” It made me wonder whether we really need “prompts” for some natural processes, including writing.
• That Louise Glück, a professor at Stanford, introduced Ruefle with this: “One of the great American regionals, Mary Ruefle writes as a spirit newly hatched, without existing convictions or prejudices.” Glück died in October, a few months after the reading.
After reading the article, I read some of Ruefle’s poems. I’m now looking for her collection of prose poems, The Book, published last year.
But the point I’m trying to make is this: If you read only the national newspapers, you might get the impression that contemporary journalism consists of recording whatever Trump does on a given day and then soliciting commentary from a dozen pundits. I’m a great believer in local papers, including student newspapers. I like other perspectives on what’s interesting, what’s news.
• Source: Ellen Abraham, “Pulitzer Prize-Finalist Mary Ruefle enlightens with reading of snow-day inspired poetry”; The Stanford Daily, March 5, 2023.
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