“To slaughter us / why did you need to invite us / to such an elegant party?” June 17, 2009: In a an op-ed for yesterday's New York Times, Roger Cohen wrote,  "Poets are the refuge of every wounded nation — just ask the Poles — and nowhere more so than here in this hour." Here is Iran.  And this hour is one of crisis. (more...) by Travis Nichols

Poets and Painters June 17, 2009: Richard and Mafalda sitting beneath a Pontus Carle painting, Lisbon 2008   The image of Thomas Mann at his writing desk is, for me, emblematic. The writer at work. Five thirty am, the light of day nowhere apparent, two candles illuminating the mahogany surface of his desk, haloing pens, inkstand, blank pages. The order in his studio is [...] by Martin Earl

Happy Birthday, Gwendolyn Brooks! June 16, 2009: Remember that poetry is life distilled. —Gwendolyn Brooks June 7, 2009, would have been Gwendolyn Brooks’s 92nd birthday; to join us in celebrating one of America’s greatest poets, check out the Hall Library stop on the Chicago Poetry Tour, which features archival recordings of Brooks reading from and speaking about the span of her work. [...] by Katie Hartsock

Romantic Re-volutions June 16, 2009: What does Edward Lear have in common with Samuel Taylor Coleridge? The answer, or at least the question, may be found in the brand-new volume 3 of Jerome Rothenberg’s Poems for the Millennium, coedited with Romanticism scholar Jeffrey C. Robinson. The book approaches the nineteenth century the way Rothenberg and former coeditor Pierre Joris [...] by Annie Finch

Gay Sunshine June 16, 2009: I’m lying on a bed in Boulder but I just spent a week in San Francisco. The engines of pride are beginning to turn there and all over the world and a particular genius friend of mine, the novelist and memoirist and poet and bon vivant I think Michelle Tea has been organizing fashion shows in San Francisco, benefits for summer writing retreats [...] by Eileen Myles

Poetry Done Right June 12, 2009: Free Blog Poll (Do your homework here.) by Travis Nichols

No Pause for Breath June 12, 2009: I was talking to a friend today about one-sentence poems I love. (more...) by Camille Dungy

Poem, Category, Relationships, Gay June 12, 2009: As you might know, it's gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender month here in the good old U.S. of A.  In the hope of promoting some quality queer poetry and some quality queer poems here on the poetryfoundation.org, we've got a section of our Poetry Tool dedicated to "gay" poems, whatever that means. Let's say we decide to include poems based on [...] by Catherine Halley

The Music of Langston Hughes June 10, 2009: While the Roots--everyone's favorite late night house band--prepare for the West Coast premiere of Ask Your Mama this August, insatiable Langston Hughes fans should check out this week's cover story:  Franklin Bruno's exploration of the poet's 1957 Broadway musical comedy Simply Heavenly. The production featured a nearly-forgotten gem sung by [...] by Travis Nichols

STEVE’S READING June 10, 2009: I went to an amazing reading in New York the other night. I’m in SF now so I better write about it fast before it entirely goes away. Initially I went uptown to appear with Honor Moore & Kate Millett to talk about Stonewall 40 years later. Mostly I was thinking that I was 19 at the time of Stonewall and straight and in Boston and more [...] by Eileen Myles