Paul Muldoon, new poetry editor at the New Yorker

By on November 30th, 2007

I heard on NPR this morning that Paul Muldoon is the New Yorker‘s new poetry editor. I was tickled to hear them discussing his poem "Capercaillies," which spells out, acrostically, "Is this a New Yorker poem or what." Given that my responses to most of the recent New Yorker poems have ranged from "mildly disappointed" to "What were they thinking?", I’m glad they picked someone whose work I actually like and who’s not afraid to make fun of the "New Yorker poem." Or, as another blogger put it, "New Yorker may soon publish first decent poem in more than 20 years."

When I was a precocious teenager (circa the late 80s and early 90s), I used to read my dad’s back issues of the New Yorker, and the poems were much better. Or at least they seem that way in retrospect. Were they actually better or have my tastes just changed? Do any of you, Readers, remember? (Or maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to abandon my attempts at homework and go hunt up back issues to test my hypothesis.)

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One Response to “Paul Muldoon, new poetry editor at the New Yorker”

  1. Karren Alenier says:
    December 1, 2007 at 7:10 am

    OMG is it possible that The New Yorker will allow a fresh look at poetry?

    Muldoon, known for being a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, has also written the libretto to the opera Bandanna . Bandanna ‘s setting is Tex-Mex so one has to think Muldoon likes America. But, hey, he’s a Princeton University professor.

    Thanks for this news. I haven’t been keeping up!