Poetry Hut Blog
Dan Pagis

Poetry News:

1. — Amy Newman uses short, verses to show the theorist of evolution struggling to absorb its implications for his private life —
2. — We love independent filmmakers and musicians, and celebrate their maverick spirit, so why don’t we want independent writers? —
3. — Margaret Atwood wins Spain’s top literature prize —
4. — G. E. Murray 1945~2008 —
5. — Power of poem immortalizes Cubs trio —
6. — Taking another look at Idaho’s most famous poet/conspiracy theorist —
7. — The lit mag reviews at NewPages are fresh —
8. — Amazon’s Vanishing Buy-Now Buttons, Revealed —

Can you think of any poems that, when you take away the title, completely fall apart? For example, this poem by Dan Pagis (translated by Stephen Mitchell):

Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway-Car

here in this carload
i am eve
with abel my son
if you see my other son
cain son of adam

tell him that i

Poetry News:

1. — I love reworking, I love editing, love love love revision, revision, revision, revision. [not safe for work] —
2. — A poet reconciling verse and living —
3. — Mike Watt, Lee Ranaldo, more set James Joyce to music —
4. — Karen S. Williams June 30 Poetry Workshop, Reading and Booksigning - Open to the Public [Detroit: WCCC campus on the East Side] —
5. — Report: 2 million artists in US, many struggling —
6. — So far, Ostriker sounds the same yearning note that Cobain does elsewhere in the journals —
7. — A new survey says men are more likely than women to share their creative works online, even though both sexes participate in creative activities at roughly equal rates —

LOL I think if Persephone was a guy who was kidnapped by a big powerful God, then male-Persephone’s difficulties would be looked upon as a “heroic journey” rather than victimhood. Joseph Campbell stuff was 20 years ago for me (ask me about the Harmonic Convergence! haha) so let me know if I have this correct. Separation, initiation/ordeal, coming back — that’s the 3 parts of the journey right?

I was thinking about all this when I revisited How to trivialise women’s poetry by Eva Salzman:

“Male poets grappling with life and death issues in their writing are dragon-slayers. Women embarked on such odysseys are rarely granted similarly heroic status. Instead, they’re victims, a less noble assignation which handily renders them more vulnerable to any criticism embedded with ulterior motives, and more susceptible to being undervalued and misunderstood, except in the context of a tragedy and/or their role as mother. Is this an avoidance of any serious examination of Plath’s work? Sadly this lack of critical engagement is how most women poets are viewed, or are not viewed, as is more the case. It’s no doubt naïve to want ability and talent to be the king-makers’ main criteria.”

(Yes I’m still thinking about Pluto and Plath and that Gurlesque article from yesterday and my comments about it and Plath’s “Tulips” — that poem where it is wintertime and the country of health is far far away and springtime Tulips are oppressive.)

If you can spare some prayers for my father-in-law that would be great thank you.