The reputation of Foetry.com and its proprietor Alan Cordle continues to spread — around the world, apparently, as evidenced by this story in the Haaretz (in Hebrew), and this Guardian article by John Sutherland. Sutherland reports that the “world of American poetry has been rocked by scandal” thanks to the site. “As a result of Foetry’s ‘exposé’ [that anonymous judge Jorie Graham had given a prize to her husband] leading poetry contests have now introduced what is called (unofficially) the ‘Jorie Graham’ rule. Judges are no longer anonymous but prominently named.” Sutherland is not very sympathetic, however. He says, “Graham got a raw deal. Poetry has always operated by clique. Were it not for Ezra Pound pulling strings, TS Eliot‘s career would never have got airborne. That’s how ‘schools’ of poetry get started — cronyism.” Meanwhile, the Chronicle of Higher Education has refused to run letters from Alan Cordle responding to an attack on him contained in an article (see the 2nd June 2005 MobyLives news digest; story no longer available on the Chronicle website) written by Ted Genoways and John Casteen IV of the Virginia Quarterly Review. Cordle notes that Genoways had interviewed him for an earlier version of the interview to run in the VQR but then never responded once Cordle answer his questions. He goes on to ask of the reforms suggested in Genoways’ and Casteen’s article, “how can we count on various agencies to create guidelines for which, according to Casteen and Genoways, ‘participation would be voluntary’ and ‘oversight would be minimal’? That is exactly why the problems with poetry contests are pervasive.” The Chronicle also turned down a letter in response from Foetry supporter Steven Ford Brown, a writer/translator in Boston who wrote in to note that the reforms suggested by Casteen and Genoways were “what Mr. Cordle has been saying for the past year.” Cordle has now posted both letters on Foetry.