I have to disagree with most of the posts so far. I feel that drama is at least as important as both straight poetry and straight prose. Consider its merits: first, drama can of course also be poetry or prose (or both). Drama is among the oldest forms of literature as well as one of the oldest forms of performance art. Drama was the native genre of the writer generally considered to be the greatest in the history of western culture. Drama has enjoyed a continuous and successful literary tradition, even during the long stretches of the middle ages when nobody wrote or performed anything else. Drama is clearly the ancestor of such other popular art forms as opera, film, and pantomime, among others. Let's face it: prose is just not that big a deal. People have been writing fiction in English since Richardson--almost 300 years worth of "tradition," most of which has sucked beyond description, even the parts which are sufficiently acclaimed (on a relative basis, of course) to considered askable in QB. In other languages, fiction has a longer and more distinguished history, but it still can't escape its obvious flaws. Novels are long and boring. Short stories are plotless and pointless. Novellas don't know what the hell they are. Essays can be interesting, but more often than not are merely frivolous posturing. Not only is fiction largely dead, it was never particularly alive. Poetry, as has been pointed out, is growing increasingly inaccessible outside of the ivory tower, unless you count greeting cards and advertising slogans. But poetry has at least had a lengthy and rich history, including lots of really memorable great works, great authors, and great lines. Poets, at least, unlike novelists, have always shown the ability to put words together in an artistic fashion. Much of the above is written rather facetiously, but I do believe that drama is more important than poetry, and that poetry is more important than prose, and this hierarchy should be reflected in the QB distribution. I don't exactly expect this to happen overnight (or at all), but golly, it would be nice. Joon
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