Your Name May 24, 2009: Yesterday we went up to the Hispanic Society for a tour of the museum. It’s Memorial Day weekend so it was even a stretch for me to make. Because my friend Robert had an opening in East Hampton I was calculating when I could hop on the Jitney after the tour. But you know it was going to be kind of insane out there a holiday weekend and also re [...] by Eileen Myles

CALABASH DISPATCH–FRIDAY NIGHT May 23, 2009: On Friday night, the air is cool off the sea.  The breaths of wind against the microphone begin to suggest distant thunder.  A woman sitting beside me says, “Rain…”  I sit with my legs stretched out beyond the shelter of the large tent. I am in the front row of a sea of neatly organized white plastic chairs that stretch over a lush [...] by Kwame Dawes

Speaking of batting averages… May 23, 2009: Boston (well, actually, Somerville) is the first city I lived in after receiving my poetic license.  Here again now, enjoying the sun off the Charles and the good food at Toro and the many offerings at the American Literature Association Annual Conference, I’m wondering what it means to be a publishing poet. (more...) by Camille Dungy

CALABASH DISPATCHES 2009 May 22, 2009: The truth of the matter is that Calabash #9 may not have happened.  Why might this be important?  Calabash is a literary festival that takes place in a small village in a remote parish on a small island each year, and in the larger scheme of things, the possibility of a nine year old festival not happening may seem unimportant.  But Calabash is [...] by Kwame Dawes

NO ENERGY May 22, 2009: I figured I’d blog today after I ran but then I just wound up on the bed. It’s May here (I know it’s May everywhere else too) and for catholics it’s the feast of the Ascension and that’s also true to New Yorkers who move their cars from side to side for alternate parking. Today is a holyday off.  It’s soft here. May is the most [...] by Eileen Myles

Box by Box May 20, 2009: My life is a life of boxes. It’s temporary, I trust. The hope, when one puts her whole life into boxes, is that, soon, her whole life will be out of boxes.  But my parents speak, sometimes, of the as yet unpacked boxes they packed when they moved into their current house (that move happened in 1986) and so I fear, each time I pack another [...] by Camille Dungy

Lorine Niedecker May 20, 2009: A few weeks ago, I got a tip from a coworker that a documentary film about Lorine Niedecker was being shown at Loyola University. I used to be the only person I knew who knew who Lorine Niedecker was, so naturally I had to drop everything I was doing to go see the film. I'm glad I did. The film, Immortal Cupboard: In Search of Lorine [...] by Catherine Halley

Stakes pulled. Car loaded. Leg kick. Air guitar. May 20, 2009: In two weeks, my family unit and I will be driving from Seattle to Chicago.  A big move!  This family unit = my wife Monica, our cat Boo Radley, and a couple piles of stuff.  We all (Boo and stuff included) have been eagerly plotting the playlists and the road snacks, but we’re hung up on which route to take—-I-90, I-80, or the Canadian [...] by Travis Nichols

A SHORT, HIGHLY PERSONAL OBSERVATION COMPLETELY LACKING IN EXAMPLES WHICH I COULD HAVE NEVER HAVE MADE THIRTY YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS A YOUNG POET STILL LIVING IN NEW YORK, BECAUSE I DIDN’T KNOW ENOUGH TO KNOW IT WAS TRUE. BUT I DO NOW. May 19, 2009: Germaine Greer, 
Paula Rego, 1995. (Pastel on Paper laid on aluminum
 120 x 111 cm., National Portrait Gallery). W.H. Auden once said that he always felt that he was the youngest person in the room, even at an older age, when this was certainly not the case. I’ve felt similarly while blogging, especially when being reprimanded by [...] by Martin Earl

Facebook & the New Poetry Community May 19, 2009: I should be packing right now. I'm just about to get on an early plane to NYC with my daughter who, thanks to a great Jetblue deal, I am bringing to the Museum of Natural History and then the Dusie kollektiv reading and performance tonight at ACA Gallery. So, yes, I should be packing. But someone sent me a link to a Facebook events page for the [...] by Annie Finch