Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
I like this poet.
And so should you.

Jennifer L. Knox is a really talented young poet with a tendency to misbehave. She has several books of poetry. I have read two: A Gringo Like Me and Drunk By Noon (not on Google Books). Both books are available at Barnes and Noble, but they are also print on-demand, which means the publishing house only produces enough books to fill its orders. A tragic state of affairs.

I received A Gringo Like Me for Christmas 2008, and was instantly hooked by the poem “Chicken Bucket.” It’s not the first poem in the book. In fact it’s so obscurely placed that I might have missed it entirely (since I read poetry according to my mood: sometimes front to back, other times back to front, by title, attractive formatting, etc.). However, the giver jumped to her feet upon my removal of the wrapping paper, charged at me, snatched the book, opened it to “Chicken Bucket” and read it aloud to all present — Awesome.  This was a gathering of my friends, so everyone was relaxed and groovy.

Naturally, I read the entire book. Then bought Drunk By Noon. Then went online, did a little research, and found a recording Jennifer L. Knox did for FSU a while ago. She was announced by faculty as a literary author, but was received by the student body as a popular author, which means they cheered loudly and shouted instead of politely clapping their dainty hands.  

In fact her whole persona or visage on the page mirrors that greeting. She is a serious (meaning literary, valid, and committed to her craft) poet. She also has the incredible potential to find a popular audience (meaning people who don’t read poetry as a rule). This is where the tragedy comes in: she’s probably not going to get a real break into mainstream culture without a minor miracle AND it’s not her fault. It is her publisher’s fault for not taking a risk and running a viral marketing campaign in the right circles that would give her the exposure to build a national level fan base. (Side Note: I’m tired of shit like this. I see someone with real talent that could go super-nova big and they’re getting the raw deal because someone with a pencil thin tie and matching dick won’t take an appropriate amount of risk.)

From a critical stance her work offers a distinctly self-aware postmodern conceptualization on what a poem is and what a poem’s content should be. The latter is why I love her work so much. It’s not enough to write well. For the most part you have to write content that fits into someone elses’ (a publisher’s or slush pile reader’s) idea of what good fiction is and is about. This is why I’m unpublished. This is also why I love reading weirdos who get published and hopefully make it big. Is everything in those books an experiment approach to poetry — of course not. But even when Knox is conventional she’s excellent. I would bet a serious amount of money (which for me is $50 and up) that if you gave Jennifer L. Knox to high school students they would open their minds to T.S. Eliot and Emily Dickenson. Same goes for Bukowski and Billy Collins — a little more popular literature in high school would result in a lot more classical literature in college and life beyond.

Anyway, this is just a cheerleader post… so go read Jennifer L. Knox.

Tweet  Print This Post

Tags: books & writing, fan boy says // 2 Comments »