My concept of the "poet's novel." It's got to be written by a poet, and appeal mostly to readers of this poet or of poetry generally. It can't be a novelistic novel written by a novelist who is also a poet. It can be very good for what it is, but cannot simply be a novel standing apart from the poet's work. it helps if it is obscure, unknown to non-poetic readers. In other words, James Dickey or Thomas Hardy don't count as writers of "poet's novels." So it is partly about the social identity of the writer? Partly about the work itself? Its readers?