The Poetics of Kitsch

Kitsch is a way of describing certain kinds of seemingly trivial, yet treasured, objects in material culture, and poetry has a crucial role in its history. Our panel of poets and theorists will sample poetic forgery, melodrama, pet epitaphs, queer idylls and fortune cookies as part of this history. The panelists will take up the question of whether poetic kitsch is still the antithesis of the avant-garde—or the leading edge of artistic experiment.