John Ashbery’s writing process was the best writing process

“The longest way is the most efficient way.”

Welcome to the latest issue of Subtle Maneuvers. This week we’re looking at the American poet John Ashbery. For more poets’ routines, see previous issues on Derek Walcott, Anne Sexton, Robert Lowell, Audre Lorde, and Eileen Myles.

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John Ashbery (1927–2017)

Tomorrow would have been Ashbery’s 93rd birthday. In addition to being one of the greatest American poets, Ashbery had one of the greatest writing processes, which he described in a 2015 interview: