Doty Hits a Dinger! November 20, 2008: Poet and memoirist Mark Doty's new and selected poems Fire to Fire was awarded the National Book Award last night at the NBF's annual gala event in New York City. You can listen to Doty read a few poems here, read an excerpt from Fire to Fire here, and listen to Julie Bernstein chat with Doty here. by Travis Nichols

Hungary: Don’t Look Away November 20, 2008: In November of 1944, a Jewish Hungarian poet known for mixing innovative and classical styles, was shot into a mass grave with his notebook of last poems in his coat pocket. One of 3,200 Hungarian Jews forced by fascist militia to march hundreds of miles in retreat from Tito’s advancing armies, Miklós Radnóti remained under that mound for [...] by Forrest Gander

Charlie Kaufman, Literalist of the Imagination November 19, 2008: Riding the bus down to the Hotel Monaco to meet Charlie Kaufman, I suddenly have a terrible piercing pain in my right eye. Every time I blink, it’s like a bit of glass under my eyelid rolls along the surface of my eye. I yelp and frantically try to drag the thing out, but I only seem to make it worse. I stumble off the bus, finger to eye, [...] by Travis Nichols

Sidewalk Cleaning: Alfred’s Plaque November 19, 2008: Here is Alfred, proud and excited, enjoying the honor of having his poem "Corrido Blanco" included in the Berkeley Poetry Walk. I have borrowed the photograph from Lorna Dee Cervantes's blog. Lorna was there sharing in Alfred's excitement. Last month as a way to memorialize him, three of Alfred's students--Robert Reyes, Harold Terezón, and [...] by Javier Huerta

Libya: Don’t Look Away November 18, 2008: Medusa Head On the north African coast where the Wadi Lebda meets the sea, just east of what is now called Tripoli, Libya, the Phoenicians built a trading post more than 3000 years ago. During the Roman Empire, and particularly during the rule of Septimus Severus, it blossomed into Leptis Magna, a magnificent city rivaling Carthage. Medusa Head [...] by Forrest Gander

Further “poetic”s November 18, 2008: Now that there is renewed hope that action can bring about change, are we going to see a return to explicitly political art? I went to see the dance company DV8’s latest production, To Be Straight With You, which is described on their website as ‘a poetic but unflinching exploration of tolerance, intolerance, religion and sexuality.’ If [...] by Lavinia Greenlaw

Sidewalk Cleaning: Berkeley Poetry Walk November 17, 2008: It must be quite an honor to have one of your poems selected for a poetry plaque on the Berkeley Poetry Walk. Ron Silliman said somewhere that it (his inclusion on the walk) is one of the most memorable and satisfying honors he has received. One problem that arises, however, is keeping these tributes clean and unobstructed. Since I am a Berkeley [...] by Javier Huerta

It’s the economy, stupid November 16, 2008: I will have to agree with Olena that now that Sarah is back in Alaska, I can now stop tourettically clicking the refresh button and begin to think about poetry. To assess the last three months? It’s been an obsessive relationship I have had with the Internet. Occasionally I managed to extricate myself from the cold glow of my computer and [...] by Cathy Park Hong

Australia: Don’t Look Away November 16, 2008: From the deck of Robert Adamson's house Hot damn, here I am, I was thinking as I looked out from the porch across the Hawkesbury River to the wild preserve on the other side. I’m right where Duncan and Creeley stood, and like them, I’m about to go out at night on the river with that famous Australian poet, fisherman, birder, scrapper, lover, [...] by Forrest Gander

DURA November 15, 2008: Big Presses allow titles to gently fade out. Small presses go belly up (which brings me to another question—will the recession affect poetry? Perhaps this will be a boon—no longer able to afford the luxuries of hardcover fiction or spend triple digits at the hippest tapas restaurant, stressed out Americans will turn to economically [...] by Cathy Park Hong