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The Da i !y Nebraskan
Friday, January 15, I960
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Espresso Plus Poetry
Shapiro Internationally
Recognized As Writer
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Prof. Shapiro Holds a Piece from
A Chunk . . . about wfwci e Is Writing
a Poem
By Herb Probasco
Mention poetry and espres
so, and one immediately
thinks of beatniks. But the
same two words, in a differ
ent light, fit Karl Shapiro,
professor of English, and fac
ulty winner of the Outstand
ing Nebraskan award.
Only his taste for espresso,
however, reminds one of beat
niks. It would be a mistake
to identify his poetry .with
such a society. The same
is true of his personality
which is warm and under
standing. World Recognition
Internationally recog
nized for his poetry, the Pul
itzer Prize winner has been
a member of the faculty
since the summer of 1956.
He had delivered the Mont
gomery Lectures at the Uni
versity that previous year
and liked the campus and the
town. "I don't like big cit
ies," he explained, adding
that he had lived in a small
town in California before com
ing to Lincoln.
Schooner Editor
Another factor influencing
his decision to come to Ne
braska was the caliber of the
English faculty. "The depart
ment is terrific," he re
marked. "It has a reputation
around the country. Many of
the members are very promi
nent, and the atmosphere is
good."
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Evenings at Home onert Are Spenf in romhlng Poems
His primary function at the
University is editing "The
Prairie Schooner,' a literary
quarterly publication that has
a . circulation around the
world.
"Editing the Schooner is a
never ending business," he
commented. "You get behind
a day or two and you're
sunk."
However, he still finds time
to teach two courses, "Con
temporary Poetry" and
"Creative Writing," plus
writing poetry reviews and
editing books.
He has four books which
are soon to be released. One
of these is titled "In Defense
of Ignorance," a book of his
essays on modern poetry,
based on a series of lectures
which he delivered last spring
at the University of Cincin
nati as the Elliston poet.
The book presents his
theory on the teaching of
modern poetry, which he
feels is being taught too in
tellectually. "The best kind of poetry,"
Shapiro said, "should be pre
sented like drama, on the
stage."
"The idea is to get people
to read it and find out for
themselves whether they like
it or whether it's good.
"Terrible Mistake"
Rather than say what is
J good or what is bad, he tries
to let rus stuaenis mase up
their own minds, "although
my prejudice comes
through," he explained.
"It's a terrible mistake to
hold up something as a mo
del," Shapiro continued. I
His ideas on this subject
were expressed in recent ar
ticle, which he wrote for the
New York Times on modern
poetry. The article was writ
ten as a result of the reac
tion to his review of a book
f poetry by Marianne Moore
in which he criticized her
writing.
He declared that critics
tend to "go overboard" on
Miss Moore's poetry and that
they're afraid to say any
thing that's not nice, "which
is rather hypocritical, be
cause cot very many can
read that kind of poetry and
understand it.
"It's not that good. It's
thorny and obscure and
doesn't say much when you
get to the bottom of it,"
Shapiro said.
Long Article
Letters of protest and
praise flowed into the Times'
office and to Shapiro follow
ing the review.
The Times then asked him
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to wTite a long article on his
views on contemporary poet
ry which he did. This article
prompted an even greater re
sponse from readers. Two
pages of letters on it alone
were published in the Times.
Shapiro has recieved hun
dreds of letters, nearly a 11
praising him for his stand.
It was necessary for him to
dictate a form letter, he said,
in order to thank all the peo
ple for writing.
The best letters came from
college students, he said. The
Times also received many
letters, more of which criti
cized his article.
He also received phone
calls from people in New
England and New York,
whom he didn't even know.
Yale To Publish
Yale University Press is
going to publish the article
as a bock, both in hardback
and paperback form.
"I think everyone thinks
this way," he said, but no
body's written about it.
Other books which he is
authoring include "An Anthol
ogy of American Poetry"
and "Start .With a Sun,"
which he is co-authoring along
with Professor James Miller
and Bernice Slote of the Eng
lish department.
The book is a defense of
romantic poetry and a study
of poets with a cosmic con
science. He is also writing a text
book of essays.
The Shapiro family consists
of his wife Evalyn, three
children, Kathy, a sophomore
in high school and John Jacob
and Elizabeth, both in ele
mentary school, two Siamese
cats and a collie named Sam.
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APO Book
Swap Starts
Next Week
The Alpha Phi Omega book
exchange will be open to re
ceive books from students
Jan. 22, 23, 25 and 26 in the
Student Union.
The purpose of the ex
change is to help the student
buy and sell books at reason
able prices.
Students wishing to sell
their books will be requested
to fill out cards listing their
name and address, informa
tion about the book and the
price they want for it.
The books will go on sale
in the Union the first week
second semester.
Money and unsold books
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