Long Hard Road Out of Hell May 21, 2008: As some of you know from Emily Warn’s recent post, my recent extended absence from Harriet has been due to severe illness and a long hospital stay. I hope to begin blogging regularly soon. The short version: I was in the hospital for over a month, and almost died during the first week. According to my infectious disease doctor, by the odds, I [...] by Reginald Shepherd

Regional Homesickness May 21, 2008: In reading Linh Dinh’s wonderful post about Montana and thinking of Bill Knott’s insightful comment in which he asked, “Is the regional poet extinct?” I began to think of how regional poetry is defined and, indeed, how I might define myself. Having been in New York now for 9 years, where I hope I have not let the “hegemonic nets” [...] by Ada Limón

Hellos, Goodbyes, and a Hiatus May 19, 2008: In case you missed Daisy Fried's sign off from Harriet, it’s here, at the bottom of one of her wonderful dispatches from Paris. We’re going to miss her quips and critiques, and her exploits with Maisie and Jim. Do you know anyone else who has read Tristam Shandy out loud? Invented the new American classic Moby Dickinson? Or spoken about [...] by Emily Warn

Hồ Xuân Hương May 17, 2008: In 2000, John Balaban published Spring Essence: The Poetry of Ho Xuan Huong. On the cover is a bare-breasted woman, presumably Oriental, hiding her face behind a gong or a wok. Introducing her, poet, not the hot chick, Balaban writes that "for her erotic attitudes, Hồ Xuân Hương turned to the common wisdom alive in peasant folk poetry and [...] by Linh Dinh

Missoula, Missoula May 16, 2008: I hope you'll enjoy Missoula--it's an interesting place to live for a lot of reasons, particularly as the locus for various collisions and overlaps-- like the "redstate" libertarian / progressive-environmentalist overlap, and the liberal conservationist / hunter-fisher overlap, and the semi-wilderness animal habitat / suburban-urban development [...] by Linh Dinh

Shout Out to Latino Poetry Review May 16, 2008: “To be of the air. I'm saying this to myself like a prayer, because I don't know that we can be free—of nationality, body, belonging.” —Miguel Murphy from Blood and Breath: A Conversation There is very important new member of the poetry world. (This odd world of beasts and bones.) He is brand new and he is very handsome. He is made out of [...] by Ada Limón

At the Cotton Museum May 16, 2008: The former Cotton Exchange in Memphis has been transformed into a loving tribute to the fiber that shaped the South: King Cotton. The museum is a fine combination of multi-media presentations and preserved artifacts. One of the display cases features a compendium of products made from cotton, including hair curl activator, disposable diapers and [...] by D.A. Powell

The Fine Art of Mimicry May 15, 2008: “I will know my song well, before I start singing” —Bob Dylan, A Hard Rain’s Going to Fall I hope you got out your window yesterday. I did, just for a couple of hours, but it was worth it. My friend M (we’ll call her that) is a young, new poet and she’s learning how to write, and doing quite well. But she worries that she’s trying [...] by Ada Limón

Some Writings in English by Foreign Poets May 14, 2008: The dolphins from your rope by Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl (Iceland, born 1978) I have come from Europe, bearing the dolphins! I tell myself: “Oh say can you see, you could have saved a lot of money - these are mere cinema replicas - the grocer is korean, the streets are hassidic and the skyscrapers are huge - the poets are playing dolphin-God, [...] by Linh Dinh

Slipping Out the Window May 14, 2008: “I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs.” —from The Renewal, Theodore Roethke This morning, I was reading Roethke on the train (I admit, part of me was trying to block out the news, having been chained to its great sorrow all morning). And the sun is out today in the city; spring is fully upon us and racing full-fledged into summer warmth. [...] by Ada Limón