LETTERS
A proliferation of poets

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The "Poem Present" lecture and reading series and course are justly heralded in the "Chicago Journal" (June/01). But in composing the lead sentence, under the heading "Parade of Poets," the drum major drops the baton: "Poetry may not be the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of the University of Chicago"?

I majored in English. A lot of the poems I concentrated on pop into my mind all the time. So does Allen Ginsberg's playing the harmonium and chanting to welcome in the spring on campus. And my discovering kayak on the magazine rack in the old bookstore. The Regenstein Library holds the most significant collection of Harriet Monroe's papers. (See page 30.-Ed.) And it pops into my mind that the poets Paul Carroll, Marvin Bell, June Jordan, Elder Olson, Daryl Hine, Hayden Carruth, William Vaughn Moody, Lew Welch, Mina Loy, Stephen Stepanchev, Katinka Loeser, John Frederick Nims, William Hunt, Jessica Nelson North, George Dillon, Yvor Winters, Dennis Schmitz, Lou Lipsitz, Joel Oppenheimer, John Logan, Ivan Arguelles, Frank O'Hara, George Starbuck, Nathaniel Tarn, and Edouard Roditi all attended, taught at, or were otherwise associated with the U of C. (No doubt this list could be easily enlarged.)

Was there a dull patch of "Poem Absent" when I wasn't watching? From here it looks as if "Poem Present" is the continuation of a lively procession.

Dan Campion, AB'70
Iowa City, Iowa

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