Poetry Hut Blog

Poetry News:

1. — Beautiful vowels —
2. — I’m not much for modern poetry, but I like Szymborska because of her compassion, her humility and her warm good humor. —
3. — Whiting Writing Prize Winners Are Announced —
4. — A fiddling poet reports from the road —
5. — Major Project to Record the Voices of Ghana’s Poets —
6. — Artist Jenny Holzer has been projecting Szymborska’s words on downtown buildings —
7. — Poets see no rhyme or reason for Listener’s decision to drop odes —
8. — Oppie’s wife, Kitty (played by sexy new mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke), sings a love poem by Muriel Rukeyser as an aria —
9. — Joe Milford Poetry Show Hosts Ravi Shankar! - Nov 02,2008 —
10. — Vanderbilt poet Rick Hilles wins Whiting Writers’ Award - $$50,000 prize goes to writers of exceptional promise —
11. — What killed Dylan Thomas? —
12. — Frieda Hughes at the Ted Hughes Festival —
13. — A number of local councils in Britain have banned their staff from using Latin words, because they say they might confuse people—
14. — Drawing on records dating back to the journals of Henry David Thoreau, scientists have found that different plant families near Walden Pond have borne the effects of climate change in strikingly different ways —
15. — Wordplay this week: Lee Ann Brown [MP3] —
16. — Unpacking the Boxes is a tale of a poet’s ambitions, but even more it is a tribute to poetry and the beauty and wonder it gives to life —
17. — With the nights drawing in, it’s time to turn our attention to the poetry of snow, sleet and hail. —
18. — Bishop for much of her life was a poet’s poet, which means a poet without an audience. —
19. — Poet Charles Olson’s book Call Me Ishmael (1947) is a rare thing: a great book about a great book —
20. — All this—the mediocrity, the obscurity (whether intentional or not)—stands in such marked contrast to the poetry —
21. — Writing in Slate (2003), Adam Kirsch compared O’Driscoll to Philip Larkin, in part because, like Larkin, he has a day job that isn’t teaching, and he writes poems about it —
22. — FSU professor puts jazz singer’s life in verse —
23. — There’s an unwritten rule in the writing game that states, “The better you write, the less you make” and so most of Ottawa’s poets, and there are reams of them, do something else as well —
24. — Poem of the week: Life —
25. — Why a particular location can make a poem universal —

Mathematician Cracks Mystery Beatles Chord — the article can be downloaded at this link (PDF). Also see Einstein’s Music here hahaha.

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Friday is the day of my appointment with the retina specialist. I’m trying not to “google” the myriad of horrible scenarios. Trying not to freak out about it. Robert Hayden couldn’t see so good & he still wrote some pretty good poems. …in related news, the NYT has a weird body quiz.

I have poetry news scheduled for the rest of the week. Have a good Election Day. I have a feeling it is going to be a cluster-you-know-what, like the 2000 election. Hopefully I’m wrong.

Poetry News:

1. — Morphine —
2. — The Author Will Take Q.’s Now —
3. — Major Jackson: Where He‘ From —
4. — Clueless CBI gives up Nobel theft probe after three years —
5. — Why Attempt Suicide? Evidence from the Poetry of Suicidal Poets —
6. — Mothers’ reading style affects children’s later understanding of other people’s minds —
7. — Philomene Long, 67, poet [may require bug me not] —
8. — Four of the most celebrated living poets — John Ashbery and former poet laureates Robert Pinsky, Robert Hass and Mark Strand — have new collections —
9. — Bob Dylan is a genius, but he’s no poet —
10. — The owner of a midtown bookstore set fire to hundreds of books on West 39th Street on Sunday —
11. — Poets on Prozac: Mental Illness Treatment and the Creative Process —
12. — ‘Myth’ A poem by Natasha Trethewey [thanks Jessica -- can't wait to hang out at Poet @ Tech on the 21st weee tell the cats I am on my way] —
13. — Interview with Appalachian beat poet Thomas Rain Crowe [links to MP3 & courtesy of WPVM] —
14. — Musical settings of poetry remain rare in jazz —

I don’t know how I missed this post but you should go read it. (I still mispronounce “big words” sometimes LOL.) I’m pretty much done with the “legitimate po-biz world” not that I have ever been in it really hahahahah. Taking a break from sending out stuff to lit mags for sure. Geez o pete, I have poems out from *last summer* that I never got a response back from. :/ That’s not 100% of the reason. I’m just finding the “legitimate po-biz world” increasingly icky-seeming & I’m happy enough just posting poems here, even if folks don’t seem too thrilled, ha. (No offense to anyone in the “legitimate po-biz world” who is reading this blog, I’m sure you are nice people < -- not being a smart ass.) Why, again, did I go into debt for an MFA? hahaha No, I don't regret that, I learned a lot and that is what I wanted to do, learn. I didn't particularly want to teach. I wanted to learn about poetry. Because writing it is fun & I wanted to find out how to write it better. :)

This is my favorite Beatles song.

Hell. It has rained 1 time since I last wrote here of rain. Usually at this time of year our porch/deck here in the woods is full of fallen acorn mast and dropped walnuts. I found one pea-sized acorn yesterday. The poor squirrels. I bought a bag of corn for them at evil Wal-Mart™. It is probably from China so I am probably poisoning them. But yesterday there were 7 squirrels stuffing their faces on the corn and not even hissing at each other. (And some stale Cheerios™ I put out there as well. I eat Cheerios every day. Or oatmeal. Oats and corn are 2 of my very favorite foods. Usually I live on corn during the summer, but not this year.) Poor squirrels so mangy and skinny. I’ll have to go to the farmer’s co-op and get some feed corn this week.