http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/in-other-words/george-bowering-bullshit-artist-a-poetics-of-attention/article1675695/

A great primer to innovative Canadian poetry with Big Daddy George Bowering. It includes great testimonials from some of George’s friends and this list:

What makes a poet a poet?

1. Insatiable curiosity about the facts.
2. An ear that likes what words do other than designate.
3. A desire to continue the work.
4. A lot of skepticism.
5. A love for oneself as a stranger to oneself.
6. A highly competitive ego-loss.
7. Compassion on the part of one of the nine muses.
8. The inability to leave the house without a book in hand.
9. A record of failing one class in high school.