“am I a falcon, a storm, or a great song?” March 8, 2009: I’ve just returned from a stunning performance of György Ligeti’s 1965 Requiem. Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, introduced the Requiem via a rather thorough and moving exposition of a poem by Ranier Marie Rilke. (more...) by Camille Dungy

A Few Quick Questions About the Education of Youth Circa 2009 March 7, 2009: A recent post of Annie's got me thinking: do educators still make it a habit of forcing students to recite poetry in the classroom, before the students' peers? (I had to memorize and recite a few poems in my day, my day being the not-exactly-distant-or-sepia-tinted 1990s.) Is there a pedagogically sturdy reason for requiring students to get some [...] by Jason Guriel

Affrilachian Poets in Small Press Month March 6, 2009: A group of African-American poets living in the Appalachian region, the soi-disant Affrilachian Poets, have taken to the road this month to give readings and put on workshops throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. "Part of the trip is to interact and learn from each other," Frank X. Walker, the tour organizer, told the [...] by Travis Nichols

Is Writing for the Rich? March 6, 2009: There's an interesting article in The Week that asks what is perhaps a rhetorical question: Is writing for the rich? by Catherine Halley

Looking for the Perfect Wedding Poem March 5, 2009: My friends are having a public marriage ceremony soon, and they’ve asked for help choosing a poem for their special day. I’ve put forward several options already, but I’m curious what suggestions the Harriet community might have. (more...) by Camille Dungy

Poetry Out Loud Outloud Outloud Aloud Aloud Aloud Aloud March 4, 2009: I judged the Poetry Out Loud high school recitation contest (organized by the NEA and the Poetry Foundation) for the second year in a row last week. First the Maine Southern Regionals at the Portland Stage Company's theater, then the Maine State Finals at the gemlike Camden Opera House, where Edna St. Vincent Millay had her high school [...] by Annie Finch

If Rimbaud Were a Harriet Blogginghead March 4, 2009: by Travis Nichols

A Dust of Syllables March 2, 2009: I took a walk in the woods last week. The snow was thick and rather wet that day, and as, near the end of my walk, I stopped my crunching footsteps to listen, I heard crows cawing to each other, a repeating music, punctuated occasionally by the plop of wet snow off a branch, and then by a cascade of flakes following. There in the stillness, a [...] by Annie Finch

The Occasional Curse of the Duty-write March 1, 2009: The duty-read is slogged through easily enough and usually for good reasons: sometimes one needs to finish a book so that one can cross it off a list or take a test or assure an uncle or aunt (with the proof of knowledge of specific passages) that his or her gift of literature was a great choice. But the duty-write is another inconvenience [...] by Jason Guriel

“For oh, I fear” March 1, 2009: I’ve spent at least eight hours of each of the past four days reading other people’s poems. I am attending to word choice, comma placement, the arrangement of lines on the page. I am remembering, in this process, how vulnerable we poets make ourselves each time we take first the risk of writing poems and then the subsequent risk of sending [...] by Camille Dungy