Poetry Hut Blog

• — BETTOR DIES IN POVERTY.; W.N. Getty, Who Squandered Three Fortunes, Passes Away. POETESS ARRESTED IN PARK. Mary Schwartz of Middletown Wanted to Recite Ode in Court. November 11, 1907, Monday —
***
• — An Interview with Poet Yusef Komunyakaa [mp3] —
***
• — Just Announced: National Book Festival lineup announced! —
***
• — Poet laureate uses stipend to fund prize rewarding ‘most exciting’ contribution to poetry in all its forms —
***
• — 11 Types of Bad Writing Advice —
***
• — 2 cups greens — watercress, arugula or spinach — rinsed, trimmed and chopped hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha LOL @ NYTimes —
***
• — As one fellow poet recently noted to me over lunch—it is often difficult to like reading Frederick Seidel. —
***
• — On the occasion of the poet’s new book, The Importance of Being Iceland, Eileen Myles welcomed fellow poet Jeremy Sigler to her East Village home, where she has been since 1972, to talk about her new work and more. —
***
• — Heaney’s new translation from the Lowland Scots in which Henryson wrote is a magnificent achievement and, like his translation nine years ago of Beowulf from the original Anglo-Saxon, not just an excellent translation but an extraordinary new poem in its own right. —
***
• — A prestigious Iowa literary journal has chosen its next editor. —
***
• — The Stanford Renewal Database has done what the U.S. Copyright Office could somehow not do: it has produced a database of copyright renewals so that people can know what is available to post and what is not available —
***
• — Kristy Bowen’s Wicked Alice —
***

Have a good weekend, poets.

If you've enjoyed this blog, how about buying me a cup of coffee?

• — Poet cornered: Ruth Padel fights to keep Oxford post over tip-offs about her rival and A male poet wouldn’t have been blamed for rough tactics: Ruthless power plays in academia are as common as good wine and Oxford’s top poet urged to quit for sex slurs against literary rival —
***
• — It measures, perhaps, the success of New Formalism’s self-serving argument that writing in meter is difficult that Joel Brouwer (“Poetry Chronicle,” April 26) should be astonished to the point of italics at the news that J. D. McClatchy spoke an iambic pentameter line in his sleep. —
***
• — Why do women defend Walcott? —
***
• — BBC plans to send poet to Afghanistan battlefields —
***
• — Litterbug released after 4 years in jail —
***
• — The lousy economy might be bad for artists when it comes to paying rent, but after a decade of record prices — and what some might call wretched excess — it might actually be good for art. —
***
• — Film Made About Rebellious Chilean Poetess and —
***
• — Wee row erupts over old Robbie: Town resists call to remove statue —
***
• — Sunday Poetry for the New Moon Jupiter/Chiron/Neptune conjunction —
***
• — Poet’s Choice by Paul Otremba: ‘In an Adirondack With You’ by Paul Otremba —
***
• — Frederick Seidel has spent the last half-century being the darkest and strangest sort of poet. —
***
• — People By Nature Are Universally Optimistic, Study Shows —
***
• — A few years ago I used baseball as a metaphor to lament the lack of an amateur/professional split within the poetry world: no one thinks they have to be a major leaguer to have fun taking hacks at the batting cage, but for some reason the idea of being an amateur poet and having fun in the same way with words strikes us as embarrassing. —
***
• — French artist Bernard Pras (scroll for biography) arranges everyday objects, then photographs them at such an angle as to recreate iconic portraits and artworks. —
***
• — APSU literature professor to read his work in Nashville —
***
• — So, just to be clear, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, as we have come to call it, is an untitled poem written by an unknown author in about 1400. It is 2,530 lines long and written in Middle English. —
***
• — Two engaging books in distinct styles and voices — clearly from male and female perspectives — experience our shared world, but translate it through individual visions worthy of a wide readership. —
***
• — Ros, who died in 1939, abused (some would say, tortured) the English language in three novels and dozens of poems. you can read some poems here —
***
• — Campbell McGrath’s anti-Tweet —
***
• — Doomed to neglect were any films the jury doubtless deemed too conventional and/or too warm. These included “Bright Star,” Jane Campion’s exceptionally intimate and restrained examination of the tragic romance of poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, and “Looking for Eric,” a genial change-of-pace for British director Ken Loach. —
***
• — The National Library of New Zealand is seeking nominations for the 2009-2011 New Zealand Poet Laureate Award. —
***
• — Poets of the Central Committee of the Writers Union of Korea produced more than 100 poems and words of songs encouraging the army and people by conducting dynamic creative activities in the seething reality. —
***
• — Computer scientist to ‘unroll’ papyrus scrolls buried by Vesuvius —
***
• — Rafael Escalona, 81, Folk Musician and Balladeer of Colombia, Is Dead —
***
• — The Futurists: masters of outrage who embraced the new —
***
• — Peter Sacks finds common themes between the paintings of Edward Hopper and the works of poets such as Robert Frost, Elizabeth Bishop, and TS Eliot. [mp3] —
***
• — Researchers mine millions of metaphors through computer-based techniques —
***
• — Joe Milford Show: John Poch is poetry editor of the journal 32 Poems. His first book, Poems (Orchises Press), appeared in 2004. His work has appeared in many journals, and in 2004, he was a Howard Nemerov Fellow at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. He teaches at Texas Tech University. —
***
• — Conferences, Festivals Taking a Hit —
***
• — The Jane Crown Show: Lyn Lifshin —
***
• — “If the occupation is afraid of a literature festival,” he said, addressing the elephant in the room of literature buffs and the culturally inclined, “than they are very fragile indeed.” —
***
• — In this essay Gary muses on how a poem or in
  this case how a poem fragment works, complete with excellent illustrations. —
***
• — How did you and your publishers decide that now was the time for your “Collected Poems”? —
***
• — The end of an era in American letters —
***
• — Recently, I’ve been reading through Jim Elledge’s Sweet Nothings: An Anthology of Rock & Roll in American Poetry.” —
***
• — Anna Journey’s first book of poems, “If Birds Gather Your Hair for Nesting” (University of Georgia Press: 104 pp., $16.95 paper), is a deeply American debut —
***

Have you noticed lately that people are acting ugly all of a sudden out of the blue? I’m not sure what to make of it. Maybe I’m just being in the wrong time at the wrong place.

If you've enjoyed this blog, how about buying me a cup of coffee?

• — The Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens caused a furor in the world of Shakespeare scholarship over the weekend —
• — Frederick Seidel reads poems from his collected works. [audio] —
• — Edgar Allan Poe and the economy of horror. —
• — How a local poet publishes, from zines to the Internet —
• — Power Of Imagination Is More Than Just A Metaphor —
• — Judith Krug, Who Fought Ban on Books, Dies at 69 —
• — PEN condemns publication of Karadzic poems —
• — Effortless Clotted Cream —
• — Slash Pine Press is pleased to announce our first call for chapbook-length manuscripts of poetry or mixed-genre. —
• — Photo from garfield minus garfield —
• — And the Winner Is… Anonymous —
• — Poetry slam is Friday at Tennessee State University —
• — Finishing Line Press is going to publish my chapbook, Love and Other Four-Letter Words —
• — Good Poems for Hard Times is a top seller nationally, and with good reason —
• — NPR: 04-21-2009 Fresh Air: 1) W. S. Merwin: The ‘Sirius’ Side Of Poetry 2) Neil Young Faces A ‘Fork In The Road’ 3) J.G. Ballard And ‘The Psychology Of The Future’ 4) Gordon Ramsay: Television’s Gourmet Guru [mp3] —
• — Poet Linda Gregg wins $50,000 prize —
• — Ballard proves you should live a bit before writing —
• — Arielle Greenberg —
• — Review: Trouble And Honey by Jilly Dybka [pdf] thanks Main Street Rag and Heather Collings. —
• — and Collin Kelley had a review in that issue as well —
• — So you think you might have Ehlers-Danlos synrome? [PDF] —
• — A new look at Thoreau: from nature preacher to wisecracking, entrepreneurial party boy. —
• — For poet Brenda Hillman, it’s all about the mystery —
• — Murfreesboro residents who might have lost valuable items in the recent tornadoes can go to the local library to see if they have been recovered. and also Over the past decade, Tennessee ranks 1st in the U.S. in tornado fatalities. —
• — On Language: Baseball Lingo —
• — Troubled R ‘n’ B star Amy Winehouse is writing a book of poems. —
• — Viking Legacy On English: What Language Tells Us About Immigration And Integration —
• — The 2009 Pulitzer Prizes were announced Monday. Author Annette Gordon-Reed won the history prize for “The Hemingses of Monticello” and poet W.S. Merwin was honored for “The Shadow of Sirius.” Watch NewsHour conversations with Gordon-Reed and Merwin here. —
• — print vs online —
• — Laughter Remains Good Medicine —
• — Book Returned to Washington and Lee Library Only 52,858 Days Late —
• — Bloodaxe Editor Neil Astley advises what to do once you’ve finished your poem(s) —
• — Here are the 10 most common titles of submissions they’ve received in the past two years —
• — Why do some poems play it cool and simple while others are all timpany and cacaphony? —
• — Don’t Like Poetry? Too Bad. You’re Reading It Anyway. —
• — Project Censored Top 25 Censored Stories For 2009 —
• — Futurist covers: full audio from Charles Bernstein Web Log with Thomas Sayers Ellis, Joshua Mehigan, Alicia Stallings, & Charles Bernstein —
• — Female Birds ‘Jam’ Their Mates’ Flirtatious Songs —
• — Tate recreates Blake’s ‘wretched’ solo show —
• — why couldn’t u just have kids? —
• — speaking of the above, my friend Jessica’s essay in Newsweek —
• — and review of her book —
• — Poets.org has partnered with TextTelevision to offer TextFlows, an alternative approach to reading and experiencing poetry. —
• — Get well wishes to Brent Goodman —
• — Plath as a Major Poet by Annie Finch —

We have a surprise house guest coming for a month. Tomorrow. Just found out about it haha. Let me tell you, only a good friend can get away with that haha. Have a safe flight across the pond Mr Vyv.

• — Ex-Tiger Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych found dead —
• — “Blondes, Box Scores, and Elizabeth Bishop” —
• — Batter up! This very special baseball program of SELECTED SHORTS includes stories, memoirs, and poems that celebrate the national game, and an interview with radio sports commentator Bill Littlefield, host of NPR’s “Only A Game.” [mp3] —
• — The neglected war poet Francis Ledwidge’s pastoral work reflects on Irish nationalism after the Easter Rising —
• — I didn’t really expect my book to be reviewed in The Times (‘The London Times’ to those of you outside the UK), but there you go. Who knows how these things happen? —
• — Slash Pine Press is pleased to announce the first annual Slash Pine Poetry Festival, to be held in five distinct locations in the greater Tuscaloosa, AL area on April 24th and 25th —
• — Arts Friday: Commemorating 50 years of The Elements of Style [mp3] —
• — Recent winner of The Fence Modern Poets Series, it is easy to understand why this one was chosen among its stealthy competition. —
• — Any poet of such longevity faces a choice between reinvention and repetition. Splitting the difference, Simpson’s work is repetitious, but in the mode of a narrowing spiral. —
• — As he did in his youthful work, the poet strictly limits the length of his poems, in this case to six lines each. Yet these 70 poems feel spacious rather than condensed. —
• — Poet’s Muse: A Footnote to Beethoven —
• — Interview With Poet Denise Duhamel —
• — Poetry dies in latest U.S. culture —
• — Photo from garfield minus garfield —
• — Poetry and Subsidies: Is Materialism Ruining Creativity? —
• — How Philip Larkin rewrote the first, indiscreet article about him to appear in the British press —
• — New site captures authors’ identities and won’t let go —
• — Too close for comfort: aphasia and mediocre poetry —
• — Every Friday, bloggers in the kidlitosphere enthusiastically offer up their favorite poems for kids. Susan Thomsen takes a tour through this billowing online community. —
• — We are writing about GREGOR SAMSA’s claim for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. Based on a review of his/her medical condition, he/she does not qualify for SSI payments on this claim. This is because he/she is not disabled or blind under our rules. and related: Prague’s Franz Kafka International Named World’s Most Alienating Airport —
• — “The Nut Lady” Reconsidered —
• — I think an eBook is a book, but in a Supreme Court case argued today (Tuesday), a brief discussion about guarantees given to books included a reference to whether or not there is a difference between a physical and digital version of a book — and what is likely the first mention of the brand name “Kindle” in the Supreme Court. —
• — Norton anthologies are among the most respected in the country, but respectability can suggest stodgy, predictable. “American Hybrid: A Norton Anthology of New Poetry” is neither, proving that much contemporary American verse is daring and original. —
• — Mathematics and love coupled in professor’s book of poetry —
• — A major conference on the long career of Robert Bly will include poets, translators, academics, editors and Bly himself. —
• — Forty-three years later, the International Poetry Forum is shutting its doors. —
• — The new class will also include the poets Jorie Graham and Yusef Komunyakaa, the visual artist Judy Pfaff, the architect Tod Williams and the composers … —
• — SIRIUS XM Radio Beefs Up Book Radio Programming —
• — Deborah Digges, poet and Tufts English professor, dies at 59 —
• — All good poets find strains and paradoxes within the language they learn to wield, but Thom Gunn (1929-2004) found more than most —
• — In the context of this, the contemporary poet is often left with the choice of following the example of the hard-nosed L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets, or seeming like a fluffy, nostalgic Longfellow. —
• — It features centuries of creative work by mathematicians, poets, and artists, including Fibonacci, Albrecht Dürer, M. C. Escher, David Hilbert, Benoit Mandelbrot, William Shakespeare, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Langston Hughes, E.E. Cummings, and many contemporary experimental poets. Original illustrations include digital photographs, mathematical and poetic models, and fractal imagery. —
• — Seven steps to becoming a poet [LOL there seems to be an important step missing] —
• — Octopus Books will hold an open reading period for full-length poetry manuscripts in April of 2009. Manuscripts must be submitted between April Fools day and April 30, 2009. —
• — In addition to the “regular” Tattoosday features, every day in April will feature a different poet’s tattoo(s). —
• — Muriel Rukeyser Goes to War: Pragmatism, Pluralism, and the Politics of Ekphrasis —
• — Living POET LARGE: An Interview with Reb Livingston on the Future of Poetry Publishing —
• — To read this book is not to behold a completed work but to stand onstage with a writer who finds herself in the middle of a story in which she has been reluctantly cast. —
• — Frederick Seidel has been called crass, disturbing, a name-dropping, upmarket sinner. And that’s what may make him America’s greatest living poet —
• — THE BEATS A Graphic History Text by Harvey Pekar and others. —
• — Articles in the Mar/Apr 2009 issue of American Poetry Review, The —
• — A New Chapter of Grief in Plath-Hughes Legacy —
• — Shellie Braeuner, a Nashville nanny, is the winner of the first Cheerios Spoonful of Stories New Author Contest. Her book will be put inside 1.5 million boxes of Cheerios. —
• — I, Too, Am a Vegetable: The Whitman Parodies —
• — Amazonfail & The Cost of Freedom —

data dump – cleaning out my rss feed

There’s a review of my book in the spring issue of Main Street Rag. I haven’t gotten my copy in the mail though. I don’t know if my subscription expired.