Writing and Failure (Part 3) September 16, 2007: I appreciate your responses to my thinking out loud, and I might stress that, for me, literary history does not consist of a "straight line" with one improvement succeeding another according to a model of dynastic progress—but unlike almost every other current artform, where avant-garde innovation sets the standards for future labour in [...] by Christian Bök

Writing and Failure (Part 2) September 15, 2007: I often remind my students that, despite their belief that they have important knowledge to communicate to the world at large through their poetry, their status as poets already suggests that they have failed to make any momentous discovery that might have otherwise contributed to the history of knowledge; otherwise, the students might have [...] by Christian Bök

UbuWeb Featured Resources Selected by Juliana Spahr and Wayne Koestenbaum September 15, 2007: __ U B U W E B __ http://ubu.com ------------------------------------------ UBUWEB :: Featured Resources Fall 2007 ------------------------------------------ Featured Resources: Fall 2007 Selected by Juliana Spahr 1. Learn to Say Penis http://www.ubu.com/outsiders/ass/penis.html 2. Germaine Dulac "La coquille et le [...] by Kenneth Goldsmith

Missing the Vernacular September 15, 2007: I guess I should introduce myself. I am an American poet (I grew up around Atlanta, and went to the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia), but I have lived the past 8 years in Athens, Greece. (My husband is Greek—the old story.) There are problems and privileges in being an ex-pat poet. I am largely out of the loop for a lot of the [...] by A.E. Stallings

cappie! September 14, 2007: Last night Cappie Pondexter's clutch one-on-one play tied the WNBA finals at two games apiece for Detroit and Phoenix. Whoever wins game five this Sunday (4:30pm Eastern on ESPN2) takes the title. It's been a great playoffs so far. Nearly everybody who's been watching and who isn't a Michigan resident wants the Phoenix Mercury to win: they're [...] by Stephen Burt

Bestiary U.S.A. September 13, 2007: Step off, poets, no one beats Anne Sexton in the art of the metaphor. (more...) by Rigoberto González

lyric irony September 13, 2007: This week I've been fascinated by Elizabeth Mitchell, lately of the pop group Ida, and more recently ascending, slowly and with quiet confidence, to well-deserved fame as a singer of children's songs. Last week we ended up in a car ride with our little guy (he's almost two) and started listening to You Are My Little Bird: I couldn't stop for [...] by Stephen Burt

About Reviews September 12, 2007: I wrote a comment in response to Simon DeDeo's response to Don Share's post below. It dovetails with Rigoberto's call this week for more reviewing. I don't disagree with Rigoberto. As an author, I loved getting reviews. As a critic, I like reading them, especially if the reviewer has style. But what's in it for the reviewer? If everything you [...] by Ange Mlinko

Writing and Failure (Part 1) September 12, 2007: Greetings, everyone.... Today marks my initial posting to Harriet, and of course I am looking forward to contributing to the discussion on this website. For now, I am hoping to begin (on a mild note of mischief) by thinking out loud about the intensified irrelevance of poetry as a cultural activity. I might suggest that, despite the enthusiasm of [...] by Christian Bök

Where poems come from. September 12, 2007: Look at these faces. These six people allegedly held a West Virginia black woman captive for an entire week, choking, raping and stabbing her while forcefeeding her feces and peppering her with the N-word. They doused her in scalding water, ripped out her hair and made her drink from a toilet. Meanwhile, we're in the business of poetry. [...] by Patricia Smith