Word: spivack
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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GIMMICKRY and sentimentality are not enough. A good book of poetry should be both well-written and philosophical, expressing a cohesion of experience. Flying Inland, by Kathleen Spivack, is neither. Spivack's poetry lacks a unifying voice. Each poem remains a solitary, cricket-like rasp, grating in the reader's ear. Nothing justifies printing poor writing in any case, and nothing justifies placing these poems in a collection...
This slim volume is Spivack's first publishing effort, written while she was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study. She has studied with various well-known poets like John Malcolm Brinnin and Robert Lowell, but their influence is remarkably absent in this collection...
...However, Spivack's poetry can be startlingly vivid, and often very fine lines peer through the intimidating mass of bad ones. Almost every poem has a least one strong image or technical device which works well. Her best poem deals with an unpretentious subject: "A Child's Visit to the Biology Lab." When she describes formaldehyde jars, her use of simple detail works beautifully...
...Senators Edward Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey that the U.S. recognize Bangladesh, the White House last week said that it was not considering the move at present. Presumably, the Administration wants to wait until Indian troops are withdrawn and the new government has demonstrated its stability. U.S. Consul-General Herbert Spivack avoided Mujib's inaugural ceremonies-the only representative, apart from the Chinese...