What's the maximum famouseness poets ever reached in the USA? As someone that grew up in french speaking Canada, I honestly have no idea. In russia, poets during their lifetime were mega famous at some point. Like celebrity level famous. Was there a period like that in US history too? Or were they all just famous amongst intellectuals and then just canonized to be taught at school? http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/books/03poets.htmlVoznesensky’s generation of poets, which included Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Bella Akhmadulina, declaimed their work in sports stadiums to overflow crowds. A moment presented itself — the relative artistic freedom of the early Khrushchev era — and these poets pounced on the microphone. As Mr. Voznesensky put it, with a punk lip curl: “The times spat at me. I spit back at the times.”