Mark Doty on memory, mackerel and verse

In this edition of HoCoPoLitSo's "The Writing Life," poet Sue Ellen Thompson speaks with poet and memoirist Mark Doty about memory, mackerel, AIDS, Labradors and the challenge of writing about all of those topics. Doty, the author of nine books of poetry and three memoirs, is known for his descriptive power. He reads "A Display of Mackerel," and discusses how description can lead to revelation. "Poetry can't solely occupy the position of directness," Doty explains. "Poetry likes to find oblique ways to approach its material, otherwise it feels incomplete." Doty also reads his poem "Brilliance," a new poem, "Pescadero," and from his memoirs Firebird and Dog Years.

[@StevenLoren]

An interesting interview with one of my favorite authors. I've read several of Mark Doty's books and recommend them highly, especially Heavens Coast and Dog Years. He writes beautifully about love and loss.

[@hocopolitso]

Thanks so much for watching. You're right, love and loss are his strong suits in writing. If you liked this video, maybe you'll enjoy our show with Eavan Boland, who often writes poetry of love and loss. And visit our web site, listed in the video description, if you want to know more about our programs, and perhaps donate to support this literary effort.

[@findbridge1790]

its mr twisty twirler

[@carloparcelli9212]

Doty's poem Mackerel displays the severe limitations of anthropomorphism in the arts. Such anthropocentric writing can only express sentiment actually sentimentality. Doty has no way of knowing if mackerels recognize different individuals. in fact, recent biological discovery suggests that they do yet an anthropocentric interpretation of behavior is impossible to escape even there. I'm not saying this makes Doty's a bad poem, but it points up why many people find poetry useless. "They don't care that their dead". Doty wants this to be an expression of the seemingly self-sacrificing schooling nature of mackerel. But tell me. What can care after its dead?