Take my Lorca and American poetry survey! Send me an email to jmayhew "at" ku "dot" edu. I've disabled comments for this post because I don't want people to "contaminate" one another's answers. By writing an email to me with the subject heading "Lorca Survey" you agree that I can use your answers anonymously in the book I am writing. If I want to quote you by name I will ask your permission.

(1) Name a poem by Lorca and the name of a book of poems by Lorca off the top of your head, if you can. Use either Spanish or English, whatever comes most naturally.

(2) What American poet writing in English, living or deceased, do you most associate with Lorca? Name one American poet you think is antithetical to Lorca. What other poets NOT writing in English do you associate with Lorca? (You can give reasons for these answers.)

(3) Without looking up the answer, tell me the dates of the Spanish civil war. (If you don't have a good idea and don't want to embarrass yourself just say 'pass.")

(4) Write one sentence or two that summarizes your own thoughts about Lorca and your own poetry or the U.S. poetry that most interests you, or your reasons for NOT being particularly interested in anything to do with Lorca if that is the case.

(5) How well do you read Spanish, if at all?

(6) Without looking at any books or reference materials, name one Spanish poet (from Spain, not Spanish America) who is currently living. (You can pass on this one too; I'm not interested in embarrassing anyone.)


Maybe this survey will not yield interesting results, but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. Even if you know very, very little about Lorca your answer could be helpful because I want to know what people who don't know much actually do know, if that makes any sense.