What was the actual record of the Underground Literary Alliance?
**********
2001: ULA supports populist writers.
2011: Sectors of established literature acknowledge it's time to return to populist writing.
**********
2001: In activist fashion ULA attacks class privilege and economic inequality.
2011: In activist fashion, Occupy Wall Street attacks class privilege and economic inequality.
**********
2003: In January at Housing Works, ULA members ask for a discussion of looming Iraq War, and are asked to leave.
2003-2011: Iraq War a costly fiasco.
**********
2001-2007: ULA criticizes "Big Six" publishers as monopolistic, inefficient, and top heavy.
2012: "Big Six" looks increasingly shaky.
**********
2005 and 2007: ULA covers Paris Review/CIA story.
2012: Salon.com covers Paris Review/CIA story.
**********
2001-2007: ULA criticizes taxpayer grants to rich writers while populist writers live on the margins.
2008-2009: In the face of a severe recession and widespread hostility to its activist message, the Underground Literary Alliance disintegrates.
**********
During its brief and tumultuous lifespan, the Underground Literary Alliance was on the right side of issues and the right side of history.
Isn't it time for the literary world to stop blackballing the ULA's writers?
2 comments:
Good list. Wouldn't our complete list of exposes of ridiculous insider Lit nefariousness add up to a couple dozen? All documented. Judges giving each other prizes, etc. -- and that would be among the tamer of the corruptions. I don't recall ever realizing that an apology would be in order. We would've been happy to have been wrong even once and eager to apologize -- gosh, if things weren't as bad as they seemed, who wouldn't be happy? But no contrary evidence ever presented in after any expose'. In fact, no attempts even to refute come to mind. Only standard insults and raspberries from underlings or the personages themselves anonymously. No relevant response was the order of the day. I'm sure they just hoped we would go away. We did and now all is back to normal: plummeting, augering in. (I'm trying to find time to reboot the old ULA website so that our scorching Monday Reports can be searched once again.)
Give us a heads up here, Jeff, when it's up.
If the other side were smart, they'd make peace with us now, while they're still strong and we're weak.
For myself, I'm willing to set aside the past and make peace with anyone-- now. (On terms other than we lose and they win.)
Post a Comment