Charles Jensen | Writer

Welcome back to Legitimate Dangers Deatmatch!!

This week:

Dan Chiasson
takes on
Andrew Zawacki

Stephanie and I naturally backed different players again this week—while I found Zawacki’s work more innovating, she preferred the greater “control” of Chiasson’s work.

Interestingly enough, neither of us really “loved” either poet. I liked parts of Chaisson’s work as well; I thought it was interesting and he was able to do some things (like speak in the voices of places and animals) that have previously irked me in other work. And one of Zawacki’s pieces was so boring I couldn’t even finish it. But I felt the others were strong, interesting pieces.

For further interest, Dan and Andrew were our picks for who Stephanie and I thought were the cutest boys in the anthology, respectively. In an odd turn of possible oppression, Zawacki seems to be the only blond boy in the book! Are blond boy poets a rarity (something in the genes? the jeans?) or is there something more sinister at work here?

Figure 1.1: Andrew Zawacki