The Boston Phoenix recently held their annual Best of Boston Reader Poll, and included a category for Best Poet this year--for the first time as far as I can recall. The nominees in that category were:
Sam Cornish
Robert Pinsky
Louise Gluck
Rosanna Warren
Margo Lockwood
Frank Bidart
Then there was a blank spot for write-ins. While I admire the writing of Gluck and Bidart; the community work of Pinsky; and Cornish was even an instructor of mine as an undergraduate at Emerson (and is also Boston's first Poet Laureate), I thought the options were a little tame and predictable. So, I suggested people write me in as an alternative, just to shake things up a little. And guess what--I won.
This is not to say that I think I'm a better poet than all of these candidates; my point was that there are many great poets in Boston that weren't represented on this list--probably because they don't have high profile university affiliations. In a largely transient city many artists come and go, and it's not surprising that more poets don't stay without security in a job that pays decently. I love Boston, and have lived here my entire life--but I can't blame people for giving up on it; it's a tough nut to crack and its peculiar, complex charm takes acquiring.
All that said, this is why winning this category means a lot to me. As someone who grew up literally reading poems in the woods on the shores of Massachusetts; who has walked or driven every major street in this city, at times elated or sad or drunk or stoned and even occasionally lost--and who has spent my adult years reading the Boston Phoenix as a barometer for what's cool, interesting and fun around town--winning their Reader Poll for Boston's Best Poet is a personal landmark, even if I don't think it actually carries much bearing on my poetic talent.
Thanks to those of you who voted. You made my year.
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from the Phoenix:
Best Poet
Janaka Stucky