Why Review Poetry? [by Craig Morgan Teicher

I taught a little class last night to a group of undergrads about freelance writing and book reviewing.  Which makes me think about the AWP panel I'm leading for the NBCC at next year's conference called "The Practice and Purpose of Poetry Reviewing."  What I always say to creative writing students when I talk about book reviewing is that they're entering a landscape vastly different from the one I entered, and I only entered a few years ago.  Obviously, the Internet has rapidly and irrevocably changed the way  books--and anything--are talked about.  We now live in an age where some large segment of "professional" book criticism takes place in a medium somewhere between the customer comment and the fancy print book review.  Literally, everyone's a critic, if they want to be and can type. 

But then the AWP panel will be specifically about poetry reviewing--why and how it's done.  I'm often asking poetry publicists what a review means to them--does it help sell books in a meaningful way?  Then I wonder what other reviewers think.  To what extent are poetry reviews there to keep the art form in line?  What's the point of a negative review?

I'm curious whether readers of this blog read many reviews, especially of poetry, and whether they write them, either on blogs or for print or online lit mags or newspapers or wherever.  Why do you do it--reading or writing?

I'm groggy today--it's just too early, no matter what time it is.  So no album today.  I'm too grumpy to listen to music.  ugh.  Tomorrow is my birthday.  Talk to you then.