The New Yorker: Poetry Jana Prikryl Reads Anne Carson
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Jun 15, 2016 Poet and writer Jana Prikryl discusses Anne Carson's unique style, exploring themes of death, love, and desire in 'Stanzas, Sexes, Seductions.' She shares insights on her own poem 'Thirty Thousand Islands,' diving into belonging and individuality within the island setting. The podcast delves into formalism in poetry, the influence of writers like T.S. Eliot, and the art of writing poetry with unexpected shifts in narration.
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Classics Recast Through Colloquial Voice
- Anne Carson mixes classical scholarship with colloquial modern language to make both feel strange and new.
- Jana Prikryl says this blend makes ancient sources illuminate modern predicaments in surprising ways.
Deadpan Lines Deliver Surprise
- Prikryl highlights Anne Carson's deadpan humor and absurdity as a structural device in the poem.
- She notes many lines act as standalone sentences, delivering shocks at line-ends.
Seduction As Poetic Problem
- The poem interrogates seduction both in love and in writing, linking allure to the author's craft.
- Prikryl connects this to Decreation's theme of removing the self to lure readers without self-centeredness.