Abstract

We evaluate poems constantly: as workshop leaders, competition judges and journal editors. But how do we judge the success of verse in these contexts? The authors propose an innovative method by which anyone involved in the assessment of poetry can be more transparent about how they value verse. This book foregrounds the ethical and professional obligations of poets, teachers and critics to conduct axiological inquiry so they can discover and publish what they value. We Need to Talk suggests why and how people who care about poetry should communally explore and document their shared (and conflicting) values. This is the first book to provide the background and theory, as well as a practical, working model, for the communal, empirical evaluation of creative writing.

I've long known that Michael Theune is one of the best poetic minds of my generation, and after reading We Need to Talk, I'm inclined to add Bob Broad to that select group. Drawing on a wide range of studies and assessment measures, Theune and Broad have mapped out new ways for teachers, editors, and contest judges to think – and talk – about the ways in which they evaluate poetry. This book will revolutionize your classroom, your editorial board meetings, your MFA admissions committee.
Theune and Broad provide fascinating insights into how poetic value systems are formed, as well as a dynamic procedure for defining them. This book deserves to be widely read by students and teachers of creative writing, poetry editors and anthologists, and anyone interested in the perplexing question of how to uncover and articulate poetic values.

Michael Theune is Professor of English at Illinois Wesleyan University, USA.

Bob Broad is Professor of English at Illinois State University, USA.

Theune and Broad boldly draw from criteria mapping in composition studies to offer a deeper understanding of how we judge and value poems. Applicable from undergraduate classrooms to editorial boards of literary journals, this book asserts an ethical and aesthetic responsibility in our role as evaluators of poetry and contributes to positively shaping the landscape of contemporary poetry. This is a terrific addition to the New Writing Viewpoints series.