Story December 30, 2007: It was Sunday, 40 degrees with a snowstorm on the way. What do people do in the suburbs? I put on some Elliott Smith and went down to the riverfront. “Creepily misty morning, dank, dark, disheveled and rather ominous, like a destroyer just gone into dry dock. But how beautiful it was at the first light to hear the repetitious song of a [...] by Ange Mlinko

Book Parties December 28, 2007: Is there any moment more fulfilling and celebratory in a writer’s life than the book party? I have hosted one of my own, but have attended nearly a half-dozen and have found all of them superbly festive. I love that moment when a room full of family and friends raises their glasses in officious honor of a dear friend or relative having [...] by Major Jackson

Some Debts December 27, 2007: The January issue of Poetry goes live next week, along with my essay-review of new books by Mary Kinzie and Robert Pinsky. There was a bit that took me too far afield, so I excised it from the final draft. Still, it might hold some interest for someone somewhere! Readers of Pinsky’s Gulf Music know the book meditates at length on the etymology [...] by Ange Mlinko

Getting and spending we lay waste our powers December 24, 2007: Many a Christmas carol has been spoiled by slick, oversweetened arrangement, piped into a mall to stimulate more panic buying. Christmas poems, read in a quiet moment to ourselves, are harder (though not impossible of course) to commodify. They are something of an antidote. As a member of Muzak's marketing department remarked, quoted in a New [...] by A.E. Stallings

The Flame Hatches December 23, 2007: Here in upstate New York near the St. Lawrence River, bordering the expanse of that fabled northern land called Canada, I was awestruck by sunrise, the first sunrise after the solstice! UTTERANCE crack the red wax open read note readdress dispatch so he enabled the correspondences of others and to be so occluded by the flux of words gave [...] by Ange Mlinko

Happy Birthday, E.A. Robinson December 22, 2007: I actually had a couple of other posts brewing (or gestating, as Annie Finch put it), but the twin prompts of Ange's Malice of the Sonnet post and a timely reminder via Writer's Almanac, made me realize a short post on Edwin Arlington Robinson was in order today. Ange's wonders aloud whether the reason she dislikes sonnets "is that, far from [...] by A.E. Stallings

Right On! December 22, 2007: Congratulations to poets Nikki Giovanni, Gregory Pardlo, and Tracy K. Smith. They are finalists for the first annual Essence Literary Award in the category of Poetry. Their books are: Acolytes by Nikki Giovanni; Totem by Gregory Pardlo; and Duende by Tracy K. Smith. All three books are exceptional, and I urge you to read them. Essence [...] by Major Jackson

a nocturnal December 21, 2007: Either today or tomorrow is the shortest day of the year: before the calendar reforms of the sixteenth century, that day would have been December 13, which is why that day, and not this day, remains Saint Lucy's Day. While many people of Scandinavian descent have already celebrated St. Lucy herself by letting small children walk around with [...] by Stephen Burt

The Sonnet’s Malice December 21, 2007: I didn’t think I had anything to say about the sonnetfest here on Harriet. But then a friend sent me an article about Edwin Denby: great American ballet critic, friend of Frank O’Hara’s circle, poet who wrote many, many sonnets. I had studied them years ago, and then put the book away (sonnets not being my cup of tea). I opened Collected [...] by Ange Mlinko

Five Avant-Garde Canadians of 2007 December 20, 2007: ----------------- I am embarking upon my vacation for the holidays—but before departing, I am going to propose five of the best books of avant-garde poetry published in Canada during this last year. I recommend them all to any interested readership outside my country: 1. Yesno by Dennis Lee 2. The Alphabet Game by bpNichol 3. Thumbscrews by [...] by Christian Bök