The Bad Poetry Seminar

About Your Professor: Sparrow

A fixture of life on the Lower East Side, the bearded pundit poet Sparrow ran for President with the slogan, “Forgive All Debts, Free The Slaves.” He purchased a stovepipe hat to aid in his campaign. He is also the founder of the The East Village Militia, which hands out free books in front of appliance stores, to stop people from buying televisions. He is currently inventing folktales of the Manhattan Indians and writing a New Age self-help book entitled, How to Become a Playwright, Dancer, Poet, Water Ballet Choreographer, Opera Singer, Sculptor, Architect and Photographer -- The Easy Way! He created quite a stir in 1995 when he picketed The New Yorker magazine, holding a placard reading, “My Poetry is as bad as yours.” His poetry has since appeared in that magazine as well as The Quarterly, The New York Times and other erudite journals. He was also featured in the PBS series The United States of Poetry and can be heard, along with his legendary band Foamola, on the poetry compilation Poemfone: New Word Order (Tomato).


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