What Modern Poets Would Walt Whitman Love?

Though Walt Whitman is hands-down my favorite poet, he's not the only writer I admire. When people find out that I'm a Whitman fan, they sometimes assume that I must only like 19th century literature or old-fashioned verse. The truth is, I'm a big-time fan of poetry of all types, a regular subscriber to several poetry journals and magazines, and I'm just as well-read in terms of contemporary poets as I am about writers of the 1800s, maybe even more so.

I thought a post speculating on which of today's poets Whitman would admire would make a nice addition to my little space on the Internet. You may disagree with me - if you do, please leave a comment and we'll get a nice discussion going. But in my opinion, Walt Whitman would be quite fond of these four contemporary poets.

1. Sylvia Plath

Love her or hate her, you have to admit the great influence Plath's poems have had over the past few decades. I think Whitman would be impressed with Plath's ability to conceptualize and describe physical features as though they were living things. Her ability to use all of her senses in her poems is another feature that Whitman would no doubt find thrilling.

2. Derek Walcott

Whitman's writing is almost constantly concerned with politics. He was a staunch anti-slavery advocate, a writer who regularly incorporated his own political opinions into his verse. That's why I think the post-colonialism of Derek Walcott's poems and plays would impress him to no end.

3. Ilya Kaminsky

Kaminsky is a young, up-and-coming critic, poet, essayist, and performer from Russia who writes mainly in English these days. The fact that Kaminsky is deaf would no-doubt fascinate Whitman, who was surrounded by the damaged, wounded, sick, and lame. I love Kaminsky's poetry, especially when Kaminsky recites his own poems, and I can easily imagine Walt cheering along with me.

4. Jamey Dunham

Another writer on the younger side, Jamey Dunham is not exactly a well-known name outside of the very small world of contemporary poetry, especially prose-poetry. Whitman's own tendency to scribble in prose convinces me that the modern prose-poetry movement would have fascinated him, and in my opinion, Dunham is one of the great young prose poets of our time.