May 17, 2005

Ramke steps down because of Foetry, while Graham says she was "lynched" . . .

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Jorie Graham says her treatment by Foetry.com has been “a little bit of a lynching” that has made it difficult for her to write, while Bin Ramke says he is stepping down as head of the University of Georgia Poetry Series because of Foetry—while Foetry founder Alan Cordle reveals some of the documents he obtained from the Georgia press through a Freedom of Information act request and they seem to back up his charges against Graham and Ramke, reports Thomas Bartlett in an in-depth Chronicle of Higher Education article. In addition, Cordle’s wife, Kathleen Halme, talks to Bartlett in her first public comments about the contretemps. She says she has yet to view the site, that Foetry “sickened” her from the start, and that the ordeal since Cordle has been revealed as its proprietor has been “difficult at times.” However, she says, she may forgive her husband for the way he’s held up. “He’s become the cute Michael Mooore of poetry,” she tells Bartlett. Cordle, meanwhile, says being revealed felt like “a punch in the stomach.” Bartlett reports: “He was sitting on the couch, feet propped up, working on his laptop. While visiting a poetry-related blog, he noticed something strange: his name, address, and home telephone number. He checked another site and there they were again. “The cat is out of the bag,” one blog declared triumphantly. Ms. Halme happened to be in the room at the time. Mr. Cordle thought briefly about keeping it from her, then realized that would be impossible. When he told her, he started crying. Then she started crying.” And it seems the story isn’t over yet. Bartlett reports in addition to earlier reports that Janet Holmes may be suing Cordle, “Graham has been talking over her options with legal counsel,” too, while Cordle may be considering legal action himself—against the website hosting service that, despite being paid extra not to do so, revealed his identity.

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.

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