10 Questions for Poet John Ashbery

American poet John Ashbery talks to TIME about fame, poverty, art criticism and why he hates the sound of his own voice

[NAR-wvsl]

John Ashbery saved this interview from disaster. I miss him terribly, being somewhere I could reach.

[SEIngraham]

Oh, dear John Ashbery - modest, a wonder of a man. So polite in this interview. Died yesterday. September 3.2017. Wouldn't have wanted to be anything but what he was ... a poet. America's greatest living poet. Until yesterday. He will be missed.

[shahzebakhter]

that woman had never in her life heard of Ashbery before this day smfh

[manyblankpages]

"You're not here for me."
"I'm prepared to be wrong."
I mean wow! with this interviewer.

[sesparks]

@bbradyb: I completely agree. I've come back to this interview about a dozen times over the last couple of weeks because it bothers me so much. It's painfully obvious that the interviewer is far out of her league and she has no idea who she is talking to. In turn, Mr. Ashbery is far more gracious to her than she deserves. I think what really bothers me is that this sham interview could be someone's introduction to someone as beautiful as John Ashbery.

[redsol]

A poem is a story, stories will be a part of human life till we go. A poets mission is to tell the story of their time as they live it.

[skittlehappymatt]

"Are you America's most important living poet?"
WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT? Was she actually expecting him to say "Oh yeah I'm the best of the best nowadays!" People who ask those questions must think their interviewee is some sort of a narcissist, self-absorbed bloat, no one in their right mind would answer with yes unless they had some sort of a comeback after the fact, like saying maybe, but then again doesn't every poet think the same at some point?
What was she thinking?

[bbradyb]

Is this a real interview - or poor John as a victim of a SNL skit? She is such a stereotype of a bad interviewer (disconnected, insensitive, having a list of stupid questions rather than allowing the questions to arise from the conversation, etc, etc) that it had to be either parody or bad taste. I am sorry that such an incredible heart, mind and talent as John Ashbery has to be subjected to such bad art.

[michaelscribe]

A great and hugely influential American poet, but nobody could ever do what he did, in his own voice.

[antonyirvine]

John Ashbery and Bob Dylan...two of America's greatets living poets

[Caramuel]

Very impressing way of questionning about poetry- who would you like to be if not a poet? Nothing.. So charismatic.. But if you research a little you'd find that all good central european poetry are more inspired by ashbery and o'hara than milosz or zanzotto.

[M.R...]

Can you guys do 10 questions to Bas rutten or vince mcman

[allanmojica]

Wow. This interviewer works for TIME magazine?

[apostoliagkolfinopoulou]

She is better off interviewing a fraud like Damien Hirst who enjoys answering her vain and vapid questions, not John Ashbery . A disservice but I wasn't expecting anything more from Time anyway

[kkallebb]

I consider him a comic poet, but boring in large doses.

[molloyxx]

this interview is so offensively stupid it boils my blood.

[freuddyful]

All in all, chicken tends to be pink at the bone.

[tcmockiii]

absolutely one of the worst interviews ever

[davideberhardt]

the blind interviews the blind- dave eberhardt baltimore

[JCPJCPJCP]

What kind of interview lasts four minutes?
This kind. The bad kind. The worthless kind. The waste-everyone's-time kind. The embarrassing kind. The wish-you-hadn't-watched kind.