Translation and its discontents, part quatre February 27, 2009: "When I was reading an anthology of contemporary European poetry, I was struck by how much its poems tended to sound alike: in most cases, I couldn’t really tell what country or language a poetry had come from until I checked." (more...) by Don Share

Poetry Tweets February 27, 2009: O Swallow, Swallow, if I could follow, and light Upon her lattice, I would pipe and trill, And cheep and twitter twenty million loves.      —Lord Alfred Tennyson Every morning I tweet bits from Poetry to 865 loves. Our trills are here. The posts are mostly unrequited, but sometimes we get a little love back. When we do, we [...] by Fred Sasaki

Hives February 27, 2009: Brueghel - Children's Games (1560) On a recent trip abroad to visit my parents I developed a case of hives. It started in the early hours of the 17th of June, 2006. I woke up with itchy feet at about four in the morning. The next night the same thing happened, though now it had spread to the palms of my hands. Within a week I would begin to wake [...] by Martin Earl

Women Poets & Mentorship February 26, 2009: Here's a photo lifted from the Facebook website of Dickinson scholar Martha Nell Smith: I propose that what those of us who think about poetry will find most deeply startling about this piece of photoshopping, inspired by the "Aretha's hat" post-inauguration website, is neither its humor (everyone knows Dickinson had a great sense of humor), nor [...] by Annie Finch

In Praise of the Anthology February 26, 2009: Say what you will about anthologies. For my part, I love these treasure troves. Much of my early exposure to new work or, to put it better, work that is new to me, comes through anthologies. Given the opportunity I, like O’Hara, would certainly “buy/ an ugly NEW WORLD WRITING to see what the poets/in Ghana are doing these days.” I owe many [...] by Camille Dungy

“I Pledge My Death Wattle to the Cause of Poetry” February 24, 2009: Sunday's New York Times Book Review featured an essay by NBCC award-winning poetry critic David Orr, in which the laywer/poet/critic explores the idea of greatness in contemporary poetry. An excerpt: Poetry has justified itself historically by asserting that no matter how small its audience or dotty its practitioners, it remains the place one goes [...] by Travis Nichols

UbuWeb Featured Resources February 2009 – Selected by Dennis Cooper February 24, 2009: UbuWeb Featured Resources: February 2009 Selected by Dennis Cooper 1. Alexander Kluge 'Brutality in Stone (Yesterday Goes on Forever)' 2. Ryan Trecartin 'I-Be AREA' 3. Alain Robbe-Grillet 'Jealousy' 4. Douglas Huebler 'Variable Piece 4 New York City: Secrets' [PDF] 5. Tellus #15: The Improvisors 6. Rene Ricard 'Rene Ricard famous at 20' 7. [...] by Kenneth Goldsmith

Oblique Strategies February 24, 2009: I'm a sucker for little internet randomness games. This one, called Oblique Strategies, comes from Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. It felt particularly prophetic and possibly poetic the first few times I clicked on it. What do you think? All the fun I just had with it makes me think we ought to have a random button on this site so you can see all [...] by Catherine Halley

Hello Harriet February 22, 2009: If you're a Harriet regular, you've probably noticed a few new-ish names over in the right-hand column. One of them is mine. That's because I've taken over for Emily Warn as the manager of the Poetry Foundation website. You will probably continue to hear from Emily now and then as you do from other former Harriet bloggers; and now and then, you'll [...] by Catherine Halley

In the Year 2000 February 21, 2009: The current number of one of the better magazines in Canada asks a cross-section of smart writers and intellectuals to predict the state of the arts in 25 years. These are nervy folks, not unlike the sort of type-A’s you often find sealed in astronaut suits, tottering forward in slow motion. Facing the future, after all, wants bravery. And [...] by Jason Guriel