Quotessence
Home / Authors / Stephen Burt
Stephen Burt

Stephen Burt Quotes

Poet

Filter quotes by topic

AllLanguageLiteraturePoetPoetryReasonArtChallengesComplexityElectionFirstsGivingHelpingPeopleThinkingWorldWritingAbsenceAcademicAccomplishedAcknowledge

Famous Stephen Burt Quotes

“In pursuing certain virtues - colorful local effects, personae and personality, juxtaposition, close calls with nonsense, uncertainty, critiques of ordinary language - the current crop of American poets necessarily give up on others.”

GivingPoetryCertainLiteratureLanguageVirtueEffectsPoetPersonalityGiving UpOrdinaryCurrentsLocalsUncertaintyNonsenseCropsCritiqueColorfulJuxtapositionClose Calls
Book:Close Calls with Nonsense: Reading New Poetry
Create image

“Durable, memorable poetry is usually alert to complexity. A really good poem gives you a reason to read it 20 times, because the language in a good poem is doing a lot of work emotionally and a lot of work intellectually. That means durable poetry can help us think about complexity, can help us resist easy answers and help us step back. And it can help us sometimes calm down, and sometimes it can help us stay upset.”

ThinkingGivingMeanSometimesReasonHelpingLanguageEasyCalmUpsetMemorableComplexityPoetry IsCalm Down
Author:Stephen Burt
Create image

“Gunn would be an important figure-rewarding, delightful, accomplished, enduring-in the history of English-language poetry even were his life not as fascinating as it now seems; he would be an important figure in the history of gay writing and in the history of transatlantic literary relations even were his poetry not so good as it is. With his life as it was and his works as they are, he's an obvious candidate for a volume of retrospective and critical essays, and this one is first-rate.”

WritingFirstsImportantSeemsWould BeLanguageFiguresGayRelationEndureRateObviousCriticalCandidatesAccomplishedFascinatingVolumeDelightfulEssaysEnglish LanguageRetrospective
Author:Stephen Burt
Create image