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Dan Schneider (born 1965) is a United States poet, critic, essayist, and fiction writer best known for his criticism and literary website Cosmoetica. Schneider was born out of wedlock to a Minnesota mother and given up for adoption in New York City. After being in a gang during his youth, he discovered poetry as a young adult and educated himself in the subject. He has since published his poetry and essays in a number of magazines and newspapers. Schneider’s outspoken critiques of academic-style writings and political correctness in publishing have caused him to be recognized in a number of media outlets, including The New York Times and City Pages.
Schneider’s Early Years
Schneider was born in 1965 to an unwed Minnesota mother. Given up for adoption in New York City, Schneider grew up with a working class family in the Glendale-Ridgewood neighborhoods of Queens. According to his memoir and press accounts, at age six Schneider witnessed a murder, the first of many. During high school, Schneider was a gang member.[1][2]
As a child and young adult, Schneider worked a number of working-class jobs, including dairy manager at a grocery store. It is around this time he became interested in poetry. According to him, "I was watching the Phil Donahue show one day and they were talking about romancing a woman, and this guy on there said that poetry always worked. I remember that I had to look up the word in the dictionary."[3] Schneider set out to become self-educated about poetry (and literature in general).
Twin Cities Years
When Schneider was in his mid-20s, he moved to Minnesota to learn more about his biological family. While living in the Twin Cities, Schneider became involved in local poetry readings and poetry slams. Schneider became known for his poetry, ability to critique others, and criticism of academic-style poetry, what he called the incestuous nature of poetry, where writers praised each other’s works in a self-promotional cycle.
This latter quality made him controversial. In one reported instance, Schneider attended a poetry reading by Robert Bly. During the question and answer session, Schneider asked why Bly was "such a lousy poet." Schneider followed this by quoting from an essay Bly once wrote on Robert Lowell, in which Bly talked about the younger generation needing to destroy the old, and how trees needed to burn to save the forest. Schneider said that’s what he wanted to do for poetry. [4]
Schneider created and ran the Uptown Poetry Group [1], which was billed as the longest-running poetry critique group in the Twin Cities. He married poet Jessica Schneider in 2000.
In 1999, the alternative newspaper City Pages (a sister paper of the Village Voice) printed a cover story about Schneider. The article, titled "Dan Schneider vs. the Rest of the World," focused on Schneider’s attempts to change what he saw as the incestuous nature of the Twin Cities' poetry scene. In addition to samples of Schneider’s own poetry, the article featured comments about Schneider from both supporters and detractors. The reaction to the article was massive.[5] According to the writer of the article, more people responded to the article than anything the newspaper had ever published. For a month afterward, City Pages published letters to the editor about the article, with most of the established poets in the Twin Cities condemning Schneider and most general readers praising his honesty.[6] The article later won a third place award for best Arts Feature in the nation from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies.[7]
In 2004, Schneider and his critical essays about literature were mentioned in a New York Times article, "The Widening Web of Digital Lit" by David Orr[8] and he has been quoted on public radio.[9] Schneider’s work has also been condemned and praised by a number of online publications, from Web del Sol [10] to the Quarterly Literary Review Singapore.[11]
Cosmoetica
In recent years, Schneider has focused his energy on his website, Cosmoetica, founded in 2001. Independent website ranking services rank Cosmoetica as one of the most popular literary websites in the world. [2] Schneider has used the non-commercial site to promote his view of poetry and literature, routinely condemning the works of those he sees as bad writers (such as Robert Bly) and praising the works of poets and writers he sees as neglected. Included in this last group are such writers as African-American poet James Emanuel and essayist Loren Eiseley.
While the website started off focusing on literature, Schneider expanded it to cover topics like the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, UFOs, and the current Iraq War. He has written a multi-volume memoir titled True Life. Sections of this memoir, along with other of his writings, have been published in a number of print and online magazines, such as The Manifest, [3] 10,000 Monkeys, [4] and the Dublin Quarterly.[5] In late 2006 the site expanded to include an all film subsite called Cinemension [6].
References
- ^ Dan Schneider vs. the Rest of the World by Brad Zellar, City Pages, Twin Cities Reader Winter Books Issue, Volume 20, Issue 990, November 24, 1999. Accessed Sept. 7, 2006.
- ^ http://www.laurahird.com/showcase/danschneider.html Laurahird.com, excerpt from Angels and Gangsters by Dan Schneider, accessed Sept. 7, 2006.
- ^ Dan Schneider vs. the Rest of the World by Brad Zellar, City Pages, Twin Cities Reader Winter Books Issue, Volume 20, Issue 990, November 24, 1999. Accessed Sept. 7, 2006.
- ^ Dan Schneider vs. the Rest of the World, page 3 by Brad Zellar, City Pages, Twin Cities Reader Winter Books Issue, Volume 20, Issue 990, November 24, 1999. Accessed Sept. 7, 2006.
- ^ Dan Schneider vs. the Rest of the World by Brad Zellar, City Pages, Twin Cities Reader Winter Books Issue, Volume 20, Issue 990, November 24, 1999. Accessed Sept. 7, 2006.
- ^ City Pages letters page, with letters written in response to "Dan Schneider vs. the Rest of the World," accessed Sept. 7, 2006.
- ^ American Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Awards: Arts Feature, accessed Sept. 7, 2006.
- ^ The Widening Web of Digital Lit" by David Orr, The New York Times, October 3, 2004.
- ^ Nebraska-Born Poet Finds Fame Overseas by Avishay Artsy, Nebraska Public Radio special about poet James Emanuel, which quotes Schneider.
- ^ Bodega Survey, Reviews of Lit Sites, Publications, and Places by Tim McGrath, Steph Henck, and THE BABE, Web del Sol, accessed Sept. 7, 2006.
- ^ The Acid Tongue: Dan Schneider connects the dots by Cyril Wong, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, July 4, 2003, accessed Sept. 7, 2006.
External links
- Cosmoetica Schneider’s website of poetry, writings, and criticism.
- Dan Schneider vs. the Rest of the World City Pages newspaper article about Schneider’s life, poetry, and literary criticism, by Brad Zeller, City Pages, November 24, 1999.
- True Life by Dan Schneider, sections of which have been posted here.
- "The Widening Web of Digital Lit" by David Orr, The New York Times, October 3, 2004.
