From Peter O’Leary: Poetry of the 1970s, Day 3 June 24, 2008: Friday the 13th of the Poetry of the 1970s began much the same as the previous day: up early – the birds of Maine with their dawn chorus – searching for breakfast and then striding through the lovely piney woods. Even without the sleep I needed, I was feeling oddly refreshed. And the morning started strong. I opted for the panel with the [...] by Michael Marcinkowski

Poets Laureate June 23, 2008: Travis Nichols’ post on the current conjecture over who will or should be the next Poet Laureate of Britain contained a wonderfully sad story involving John McCain, Robert Pinksy, Charles Simic and an unfortunately bright-but-not-bright-enough man who wanted to illustrate McCain’s ignorance but instead illustrated his own (sidenote: I don’t [...] by D.A. Powell

Why are poets aligned with the left? June 23, 2008: I have pondered over this question, and was reminded again about it when the Harriet bloggers had a phone conference recently, and some kind of anti-Bush or anti-war entendre that was uttered by someone produced among us a knowing chuckle. (more...) by Lucia Perillo

Zimbabwe June 23, 2008: The news from Zimbabwe is terrifying and rapidly escalating. Two days ago, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the run-off elections. I read this morning that Tsvangirai has now sought refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare and that Britain will lead a campaign to declare that Mugabe is no longer the leader of Zimbabwe. But what [...] by Mark Nowak

The art of collaboration June 22, 2008: Theodore A. Harris, Drowning in Bones and Flames, 2002 (more...) by Alan Gilbert

New Bat City June 21, 2008: The latest issue of Bat City Review is in stores. Edited by graduate students from the UT Austin program, the magazine features beautiful artwork and high-quality fiction. But the reason I bought it, and the reason I recommend it, is the outstanding quality of the poetry. Larissa Szporluk (more...) by D.A. Powell

Pride of the State June 21, 2008: To follow up on Travis Nichols' post, "Think of the Stamps!", I want to point out that Wales already has a female poet laureate, Gwyneth Lewis, the author of this protest against the Welsh Rugby Union: A Wooden Spoon for the WRU (A druid speaks) I have consulted the mistletoe, stared at starling footprints in snow: the time is ripe for your [...] by Linh Dinh

Late-Late-Fordist Poetics June 21, 2008: When I was invited to be a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota this past spring, English Department Chair Paula Rabinowitz asked that one of the classes I teach be a senior seminar based, loosely, on the “poetry dialogues” I’d been facilitating between Ford workers at the closing St. Paul Assembly plant here in Minnesota and [...] by Mark Nowak

Good Doggerel June 21, 2008: Sacco and Vanzetti in handcuffs I forget where online I found this, but I saved it in a computer file some months ago and only just came across it again. I suppose it wouldn't charm me so much if it weren't for who wrote it--it charms me and gives me a little twinge... To babies we will their mothers’ love, To youngsters we will the sun [...] by Daisy Fried

The Beats in India June 20, 2008: In December of 1998, I spent close to a month in India with my partner at the time and an older friend. This friend had lived in India in the ’70s for a couple years, and worked with peasants in small villages and for a brief period with Mother Theresa in Kolkata. She hadn’t been back, and was treating her visit decades later as a spiritual [...] by Alan Gilbert