“Hic Jacet” by Derek Walcott July 11, 2007: I have always scribbled notes in collections of poems while I am reading them. A curious entertainment for me is to return to books and see what I thought about certain poems. Often I realize how much I completely misunderstood a poem, and at times I see scribbled my own meditations art the time which bear only tangential relevance to the poem at [...] by Kwame Dawes

Schuyler in Easthampton July 11, 2007: Cynthia Rowley store in Easthampton, 2005. Just imagine my delight when I stumbled by. In one of the most forbiddingly high-rent places in the nation, someone decided to display a pearl beyond price, to be had by anyone for free. (Click on this entry to see the close-up.) (more...) by Ange Mlinko

UbuWeb Radio July 11, 2007: UbuWeb Radio is up and running. Listen to a 24-hour continuous stream from UbuWeb's vast MP3 archives. All avant-garde, all the time. by Kenneth Goldsmith

“The Windhover” July 10, 2007: In a letter written in 1879, Hopkins described this poem as “the best thing [he has] ever written.” I should pay more attention to the poem for that reason, to its genius, to its qualities, to why he liked it so much; but, instead, I am distracted by the very act of a poet naming a poem—a single poem—“the best thing he has ever [...] by Kwame Dawes

Writing’s Crisis v.1.0 July 10, 2007: Peter Baldes, Joan Jonas, Vertical Roll, Sliced Vertically (2005) With the rise of the web, writing has met its photography. By that I mean, writing has encountered a situation similar to what happened to painting upon the invention of photography, a technology so much better at doing what the art form had been trying to do, that in order to [...] by Kenneth Goldsmith

“The Afterbirth” July 10, 2007: I have been thinking about poems lately. Not poets. Just poems. I realize that poetry is often like food for me. I like to have a good diet with enough roughage, greens and meat. But I have an emotional connection to some foods and surprisingly the foods that I have fond memories of are not always the unhealthy foods. Poetry is like that for [...] by Kwame Dawes

If this is Tuesday, what hat am I wearing? July 9, 2007: Whew. Last week, I was on the faculty of one of the most challenging, groundbreaking creative retreats in the country, surrounded by students whose work was so good it made me shudder. This week, I'm up at midnight in a sweltering dorm room, staring at a scanned version of Robert Frost's "Mending Wall" and wondering if I can spit out a joint [...] by Patricia Smith

A Glamorously Hopeless Cause July 9, 2007: "Concepts, too, have feelings," Carter Ratcliff says in his afterword to "Arrivederci, Modernismo:" I am not saying that a concept -- "number," for example, or "constitutionality" -- is literally capable of emotions. What I mean is that there is an emotional tone to the understanding of such things. An art critic, a writer who specializes in the [...] by Ange Mlinko

The White Issue July 6, 2007: Every time I pick up a copy of Chicago Review I learn something. They have a knack for special sections: Kenneth Rexroth, Lisa Robertson, Christopher Middleton, Louis Zukofsky, and Stan Brackhage(!) and Ronald Johnson... This time they map out British poetry, literally. But I really just like the pictures. (Click through for a preview.) [...] by Fred Sasaki

Arrivederci, Modernismo July 6, 2007: The most extraordinary document came in the mail the other week. It was a reprint of art critic Carter Ratcliff's* poem "Arrivederci, Modernismo" by Libellum, Vincent Katz's press. It was first published in 1974 by Adventures in Poetry, and it comes to us now, 33 years later, with an introduction by Katz and an afterword by Ratcliff himself. The [...] by Ange Mlinko