There are challenging moments when you realize that you are no longer in control of the telling of your story, when false rumors, gossip or other tales return to you and are taken as truth.
Recently an author came out with a book about the University of Iowa Writers Workshop.In a review were several false quotes from me that were taken directly from the book. I wrote the reviewer. She checked the source material cited and agreed they were false and deleted them from the review, with a note. What was most upsetting was that the professor in the workshop who supported and inspired me, Donald Justice, was maligned by me in a book that will have more readers than any correction.
I have been interviewed many times since the announcement of the poet laureateship. The last two interviews led off with some strange and wonky information. I discovered the source is Wikipedia. Someone went in and added false information about me. I have been on Wikipedia for the last two hours trying to change the entry. I started a Wikipedia account. Went on to make the changes then told I couldn’t make the changes because I don’t have citations. The citations are false.
Can someone please help me correct my story on Wikipedia?
Just because something is in writing doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. Even images can be altered. One day we will return to the truth of the spirit as revealed in the eyes or the voice. It isn’t that far away.
