Sylvia Plath—original hip-hop poet August 9, 2008: I know that a primary root of hip-hop is Jamaican toasters delivering rhymes and declamations over portable sound systems in the 1960s, and that a version of this was introduced to the Bronx by the Jamaican-born DJ Kool Herc, an early pioneer of hip-hop. I also realize that the Last Poets are important figures in the genre’s birth. More [...] by Alan Gilbert

Mahmoud Darwish has died August 9, 2008: According to a great many media reports, there is news that Mahmoud Darwish has died. His work graced the pages of Poetry back in December 2005; Harriet readers may recall Daisy Fried's recent Harriet post, "Questions for Fady Joudah", in which Joudah talks about his work. by Don Share

Poetry in a Small Town August 8, 2008: One of my main links with the literary world is via my mailman Ray. Ray collects defunct literary magazines, mostly gotten from Ebay. So far he’s loaned me a complete set of Hound & Horn, published at Harvard in the late 20’s and early 30’s, and some more recent TransAtlantic Reviews. For the past couple of months I’ve had all of The [...] by Lucia Perillo

A Few Thoughts on Poetry and Criticism, Part II August 8, 2008: I was rather surprised by some of the responses I received to my original post on this topic. I consider thinking about poetry to be an essential element of reading and writing poetry, though obviously not all poets take the further step of _writing_ about poetry. However, literary criticism (which is a genre, and which is not the same thing as [...] by Reginald Shepherd

Mothertongues in China, Nixon in Navajo August 8, 2008: Nixon in China has been blaring from my speakers for the past month, partially because I love operas in English (Peter Grimes), but also because, well, the Olympics! In Italian or German or French or what have you, the full dramaturgical dullness of many lines gets lost on me, but here lines like “Your flight was smooth, I hope?” sung at full [...] by Travis Nichols

A Few Thoughts on Poetry and Criticism August 8, 2008: I adore Doug Powell as a poet and a person, but I must disagree with his recent post regarding poets and critics. It's true that the skills required to be a poet and the skills required to be a critic are distinct, but they're related, and to be a good writer one needs at least some of the skills of a good critic. (I also know from his writing [...] by Reginald Shepherd

An interview with Phinder Dulai August 7, 2008: In one of my earliest posts here at Harriet (on the conference celebrating the retirement of poet, editor, and Japanese-Canadian internment activist Roy Miki, “Tracing the Lines”) I mentioned being introduced by my transnational roommate, Jeff Derksen, to Phinder Dulai and his work. Since May, I’ve had a chance to read both of Phinder’s [...] by Mark Nowak

Zones August 6, 2008: Vũ Trọng Quang’s restaurant, Trống Đồng [Bronze Drum], is where poets hang out in Saigon. It’s located on Lê Quý Đôn Street, not far from the old Independence Palace. Show up any day of the week and you’re likely to see a dozen poets, writers and hacks congregating at the different tables. Unless a wordsmith or two have had too [...] by Linh Dinh

The politics of memory August 5, 2008: Martin Wong, King of Pain, 1997–98 Dean Daderko is an imaginative and adventurous independent curator working in New York City. A few years back, he turned the living room of his ground-floor Brooklyn apartment into one of the more interesting alternative art spaces in the city. Parlour Projects hosted solo and multi-artist shows, [...] by Alan Gilbert

Porno For Poets August 5, 2008: Jonathan Mayhew posted the following response to the excerpt of an interview with Philip Levine that I included in a recent blog entry: “I heard Levine give a reading years back and say he cut his lines in half because the New Yorker paid by the line. He could get paid more for the same poem that way, just by doing this” I don’t know if [...] by D.A. Powell