History can be sexy too June 30, 2008: In a near impossible coincidence of good fortune, two of my very favorite djs/sound artists/musicians—two of my very favorite artists in general—played in New York City this past weekend: DJ /rupture and Moodymann. Their work has significantly influenced both my poetry and my thinking about poetry, specifically, how to create a moving and [...] by Alan Gilbert

Bully for Them June 30, 2008: Poet and critic William Logan offered his take on the life and work of Frank O'Hara in Sunday's New York Times Book Review. Among other things, Mr. Logan restated his belief that if O'Hara were alive today, "he might have written a blog." Bloggers took note, and they quickly offered up their take on the life and work of Mr. Logan. To wit: [...] by Travis Nichols

The soul grows refined June 30, 2008: "Recently I happened to read the letter in which Montaigne relates the death of his friend de la Boétie: afterwards I couldn't fall asleep for crying, but to my shame this crying returned the following evenings with no apparent cause: you can imagine that I did not give in to it easily, I had books in front of me - but alas, these books: one [...] by Don Share

The 1970s, (Dub) Identity, and Working-class Poetries June 29, 2008: Amidst the engaging recent posts by Peter O’Leary on the "Poetry of the 1970s" conference in Maine and Alan Gilbert on poetry and identity/identifying practices—as well as steering away from the seemingly looming question of whether or not I ever was a member of the Communist party!—I wanted to continue to post &/or discuss poems that [...] by Mark Nowak

Poetry and identity June 27, 2008: It looks as if Lucia Perillo’s post entitled “Why are poets aligned with the left?” will have generated the most extensive and heated comment stream for the month of June (provided no Harriet blogger attacks Language Poetry in the next 72 hours). Though commentators jumped on her statement that memorable war poetry is in short supply, the [...] by Alan Gilbert

Publish and Perish June 26, 2008: Up on literary agent Nathan Bransford’s blog there’s a discussion raging over what the optimum rate of production is for contemporary writers. One book a year? Two? A book a decade? One good book a generation? Bransford’s debate centers on fiction, but it’s quite applicable to poetry as well. The terms, though, seem quite different. [...] by Travis Nichols

The Turn of the Thumbscrew June 25, 2008: The late William Talcott, editor of Thumbscrew Press, quite infrequently published a magazine called Carbuncle. The magazine was mostly devoted to poetry, along with artwork by poet Mark Neville, and the occasional interview and review. One of the most provocative pieces of prose I’ve ever read appeared in Carbuncle #3, in 1991. It was a [...] by D.A. Powell

Coral Bracho June 25, 2008: In my initial post for Harriet, I mentioned a roundup I wrote for the Village Voice back in April of recent notable poetry books. Space constraints and the critical-narrative arc I decided upon for the piece didn’t allow for the mention of other interesting collections (such as one I referenced in another post, Matthea Harvey’s Modern Life, or [...] by Alan Gilbert

From Peter O’Leary: Poetry of the 1970s, Days 4 & 5 June 25, 2008: Saturday June 14 of the 1970s conference began with a field trip. Conference participants were rounded up onto two huge tour busses to drive an hour from Orono to Waterville, home of Colby College, and its very fine Museum of Art. We were drawn there to see two exhibits: a number of Alex Katz portraits – many of poets – selected for the NPF [...] by Michael Marcinkowski

Poetry is a verb June 25, 2008: I poetry. You poetry. He/she/it poetries. We poetry. You poetry. They poetry. That’s my conjugation. Early in the process of developing my transnational social movement “poetry dialogues,” when I was asked by the education directors at NUMSA (National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa) to lead a series of two-day, eight-hour per day [...] by Mark Nowak