Lyn Lifshin, Virgil Suarez way out in front

In a sidebar to a directory of literary magazines published in 2003, the directory compiler presents the results of a sort of popularity contest. He has totted up the number of times a poet’s been named by literary magazine editors as exemplary of the kind of poet the magazines have published — and that they hope to publish in the future. These were the poets named most frequently (number of literary magazines naming that poet appears in the parentheses):

Lyn Lifshin …… (47)

Virgil Suarez …… (40)

Simon Perchik …… (22)

Walter MacDonald …… (22)

John Grey …… (21)

Richard Kostelanetz …… (20)

Robert Cooperman …… (17)

B. Z. Niditch …… (16)

Gerald Locklin …… (14)

Marge Piercy …… (14)

W. S. Merwin …… (13)

James Tate …… (13)

Albert Goldbarth …… (12)

Seamus Heaney …… (12)

Errol Miller …… (12)

David Ray …… (12)

Sherman Alexie …… (12)

Editors want to name poets others will have heard of, so a contributor (or purchaser) will get a sense of the magazine’s tastes. So there’s a bias in reportage toward frequently-seen names. But I suspect this ranking reflects pretty closely those most-published in fact as well as perception at the turn of the 21st century. 

These poets are also among the most prolific poets of the era. They wrote a lot. They sent their work out a lot. 

I wonder what names would top the rankings in today’s internet.

source:

Directory of Poetry Publishers, 2002 - 03

edited by Len Fulton

Dustbooks, Paradise, CA