Experience, Figuration, the Avant-Garde, My Grouse September 25, 2007: Nada Gordon wrote in this comment box: Ange writes that,"the fiercest experimental writing... has always been related to experience in some way." Ange, could you expand on that? It seems to me like a huge statement and I'm not convinced it's true. (more...) by Ange Mlinko

The Return of Thomas James September 24, 2007: The title of my second collection of poetry, Other Fugitives and Other Strangers, comes from a line in the final stanza of the poem “Reasons” by the late Thomas James: I am aware of your body and its dangers. I spread my cloak for you in leafy weather Where other fugitives and other strangers Will put their mouths together. (more...) by Rigoberto González

The Anti-Muses September 24, 2007: Like the Muses, they are attracted to talent and promising projects, and the presence of several at once probably means you are on to something big. Still, they can frustrate or even destroy the most inspired tender new poem, and send the poet into despair, alcoholism, or flash fiction. The more we know about them, the better. (more...) by A.E. Stallings

Senses and Lilies September 23, 2007: I heard a fascinating piece of gossip the other day. I heard that Helen Vendler doesn’t believe good poems are ambiguous! I call it gossip because I heard it secondhand from someone who had heard her say this at some talk or other. At any rate, it led to lively speculations about what separated good old High-Modernist Ambiguity from bad [...] by Ange Mlinko

Writing and Failure (Part 6) September 23, 2007: Ben Friedlander has remarked in a commentary here that "readers make tradition, and so abdicate their power when they accept blindly what tradition hands down." I agree with this statement, and I suppose that, in my acts of thinking out loud here, I am suggesting that too many critics of poetry abdicate their power to the already written, failing [...] by Christian Bök

Changing of the Guard September 23, 2007: It seems like someone should post about this. I guess it will be me. There is a changing of the guard over at the New Yorker—long-time Poetry Editor, Alice Quinn, is stepping down, and Paul Muldoon is stepping up. Maybe this is already common knowledge all over the poetry world—I just heard it the other day on a conference call with Emily [...] by A.E. Stallings

existentialolcaturday September 22, 2007: The youngest and craziest of our three cats, Geno-- who once won a fight with a Kleenex box-- has been jumpy and grumpy lately: with school starting, we've been home less, and he's been transforming his unused playfulness into aggression against his (adopted) older brother and sister kitties. What to do? Give Geno more attention each weekend, of [...] by Stephen Burt

Writing and Failure (Part 5) September 22, 2007: Some commentators on this weblog have pointed out that the effects of "neglect" upon the history of poetics might constitute a great topic for a dissertation. l totally endorse this idea, and I hope that, one day, some plucky critic might embark upon such a titanic project—but I suspect that, in keeping with the cynical ironies of the academy, [...] by Christian Bök

culture and society September 21, 2007: Zach B at Cultural Society, which is both an online magazine and a book press, has a new issue, or anyway a new salvo of poems, up now. There's a long, casual poem, with a very neat ending, by Amanda Nadelberg, a Minneapolis writer whose ingenuity produced one of my favorite books last year... (more...) by Stephen Burt

Writing and Failure (Part 4) September 21, 2007: Thanks again for the ongoing comments in response to some of my thoughts. A few of you have suggested that, because no one can really know the standards by which a future reader might judge our achievements, the avant-garde makes “unanswerable” claims about the merits of its own experimentation. I propose, however, that the avant-garde still [...] by Christian Bök