Program

A poet who is smart enough can very easily determine the reception of his or her own work. Both Valente and García Montero, while representing opposite positions, have such powerful critical voices that a lot of the criticism of them just goes along for the ride, echoing the poets' own positions. Of course, in my view the most valuable criticism is antithetical even when it is more or less sympathetic. The deepest homage is criticism, not adulation.