Dana Gioia is surely a lightning rod. Controversy seeks him out as if he were a prized lover.

            The main headline for the September 12, 2001 National Edition of the Los Angeles Times was, “TERRORISTS ATTACK NEW YORK, PENTAGON.” Inside, on the cover of the “Style” section, was a color photograph of Gioia at his Santa Rosa home and the headline, “Fightin’ Words: Dana Gioia has ignited debate with his claim that ‘no great poet has ever come out of California.’” In the body of the text, the “claim” is repeated:

            When pressed, he says California has “wonderful” poets, ranging from Thom Gunn to Carolyn Kizer, but “no great poet has ever come out of California.”

           That “claim” is being debated all over the Internet. Dana Gioia has once again said something controversial.

            The trouble is, Gioia never said it.

            Reading the “claim,” I phoned him to ask whether he’d said such a thing--and he said he hadn’t. The article also mentioned a book I recently edited: The “Fallen Western Star” Wars (Scarlet Tanager Books, 2001). The book is a collection of responses to Gioia’s essay, “Fallen Western Star: The Decline of San Francisco as a Literary Region.” To say that San Francisco has declined as a literary region is hardly the same as to say that “no great poet has ever come out of California”--but perhaps to the LA Times it is much the same thing.

            I wrote the following letter to the LA Times. I have yet to be informed that they have any plans to print it:

 

Letter to LA Times, 9/17/01

 

            Editor: I am editor of The “Fallen Western Star” Wars, a book referred to in Ms. Charlotte Innes' article, "Fightin' Words" (9/12/01). I was surprised--not to say shocked--to read the article's headline: “Dana Gioia has ignited debate with his claim that ‘no great poet has ever come out of California.’”

 

            Dana Gioia has indeed ignited debate--but it is not about this subject. Nothing that Gioia has ever written ever makes such an assertion: in fact, the assertion implicitly contradicts a number of things he actually has written. Gioia has been an eloquent defender of California poets such as Robinson Jeffers and Weldon Kees--among many others. When I phoned him to ask whether he'd ever said such a thing, he immediately answered, “No, of course not.”

 

            The question Gioia is raising has nothing to do with whether there are good (and/or “great”) poets in California. Of course there have been great poets in California: Robinson Jeffers is an excellent example, and Gioia would be the first person to say that. Despite the statement Ms. Innes erroneously attributes to him, Gioia's point is that poets in California are not talking to one another in meaningful ways. He is making a statement about the lack of community, not about the quality of the writing.

 

            I should know: the book I edited is specifically about the debate Gioia's essay, “Fallen Western Star,” has stirred up. It saddens me to think that a real possibility for a popular presentation of Dana Gioia’s innovative ideas about California writing has been lost--that he has been reduced to the perpetrator of a simplistic and, indeed, rather silly claim about “greatness.” Ms. Innes’ article is well-written and a pleasure to read--and I’m happy that she’s giving both Gioia and my own book some publicity. But the article is marred by her basic misunderstanding of Gioia’s position.

 

            Think about it: Would a dedicated California writer (one who has written extensively about many California writers and who positions himself as a defender of California writing) be likely to make an assertion like “no great poet has ever come out of California”? Wouldn't such an assertion be more likely to have come from someone trying to attack California writing? “California has never produced a great poet”: we don't have to pay any attention to California poetry. Gioia has been active precisely in calling attention to California writers,  many of whom have been unjustly forgotten (Weldon Kees) or overlooked (Kay Ryan).

 

            I don't mean to imply that Ms. Innes is trying to attack California writing, but her unfortunate misunderstanding of what Gioia said is wonderful fuel for such attacks. And, alas, fuel as well for attacks on Gioia.

 

            And, indeed, the attacks came.

            Gioia sent me the following poem by British poet Wendy Cope. It suggests a prudent attitude to adopt even with the most seemingly sympathetic of journalists.  “Jack,” wrote Gioia, “Ironically, I sent Charlotte Innes this poem before the article appeared.”