Anstey.org

Everyone knows that I publish a poetry magazine and run a website for writers. It’s not terribly exciting for most people to talk or think about, I know. So, mostly I won’t bore you with it here. If you like that sort of thing, then you know where to find me, and if you don’t, well, no worries.

But the thing is, I get to meet some people who are remarkable.

Over the last few years, I’ve become fairly good friends with Jim Benz. He is one of the most remarkable poets I’ve ever read. It astonishes me that he isn’t world-renown. So often, poetry is just inaccessible and unfathomable to the majority of people. Schools do not teach poetry particularly well (if at all) and so, it has largely fallen out of favor.

Once in a while though, someone comes along and writes poetry that is so moving and so interesting that even the ‘uninitiated’ can’t help but sit up and take notice. That’s Jim. He’s that poet. The one you don’t forget.