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"With which dead poet would you most have liked to work? Why?"

At first, I thought, "Elizabeth Bishop--there's no other choice." Then I remembered what a former student of hers told our seminar--how she was aloof and ignored students and co-workers alike, unless she liked your poetry or thought you shared her superiority complex. I don't know for a fact that this is true, but this was told to our seminar while Bishop was still alive. (I'm dating myself here).

My choice is Donald Justice. He was a master of poetry and apparently a master teacher. I had two acquaintances who went to the MFA program in Florida--one who did well in Justice's workshop and one who did much less well and transferred to another course of study. Both of them lauded Justice's basic kindness, his breadth of knowledge, and his helpfulness in improving student writing, even if you weren't already an accomplished poet. And look at his students' successes! I can't even name them all. And read his poems!