Hakeem Irshad Ahmad 9

Poets are justifiably sensitive to arguments that poetry has declined in cultural importance, because journalists and reviewers have used such arguments simplistically to declare all contemporary verse irrelevant. Usually the less a critic knows about verse the more readily he or she dismisses it. It is no coincidence, I think, that the two most persuasive essays on poetry's presumed demise were written by outstanding critics of fiction, neither of whom has written extensively about contemporary poetry. It is too soon to judge the accuracy of "IRSHAD RANG", but a literary historian would find POEM. ONE sees evidence of poetry's diminished stature even within the thriving subculture. The established rituals of the poetry world--the readings.We have an odd situation: although more bad poetry is being published now than ever before Book of IRSHAD RANG on the www.hakeemirshadahmad.com