Users of Word Magic, Makers of Poems October 19, 2009: I'm always stealing ideas from other poets to bring to my classes. This summer I read a very interesting poem by Anna McDonald originally published in The Paris Review. The poem, called "Possible Titles for His Plaque" is a clever riff on the Homeric convention of using tags for characters. Just as Homer calls the Trojans "breakers of horses," [...] by John S. O'Connor

I choose the dumb one October 17, 2009: Sorry to be MIA, a ratatouille of obstacles thrown in my path this week. Here we go: I escape from work, play hooky, and ride the subway all the way to the editor's house in Brooklyn on a Thursday afternoon. Lungfull Magazine, one of the upstart radical poetry experiments lurking within the bowels of this city. I'm  on the editorial board. Once [...] by Edwin Torres

The Tree Inside My Head October 16, 2009: Several years ago, around Halloween, I was informed of a sickening and racist story while leading a workshop at an affluent, mostly white, local high school. As part of a writing exercise on persona, I asked students what costumes they planned on wearing for Halloween. The class laughed nervously and all eyes turned to Robert. [...] by John S. O'Connor

The Currency of Fashions October 15, 2009: My favorite font is Goudy Old Style. My favorite whiskey is Jameson’s, on the rocks, though I’m off the sauce. My favorite facial expression on others is the slightly astonished smirk. My favorite memory is my father saying “gimme five” upon discovering I’d saved $1.35 by asking for money to buy candy a few times and just pocketing the [...] by Anselm Berrigan

And how should I begin? October 14, 2009: In the beginning of Paradise Lost, Milton paints and points and dallies, filling eight lines with sorrow and hope and mountains and fruit, disobeying the strictures of English grammar in favor of the more contorted Latinate, including, even, an “or” in line seven that threatens to undermine his progress, such as it is, until, in the [...] by Abigail Deutsch

Nicolas October 13, 2009: by Melissa Friedling

Once More, in English Please October 12, 2009: The recent announcement that Herta Muller won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature came as a huge surprise to me as I’m sure it did to many Americans. While Muller has written twenty books, only 5, according to the New York Times, have been translated into English. The tiny percentage of Muller’s work translated into [...] by John S. O'Connor

Kill Harriet October 12, 2009: I just had it on my list for days. It means write my last post. I did it. Anything I write from this word on is gravy. I’ve enjoyed the battles, Harriet, I’m grateful. I’ve even enjoyed my own forays down into the thread to do some serious barking. I’d especially like to thank the organizers of this blog. Merci. Friends. I’ve truly [...] by Eileen Myles

More Internal Data October 11, 2009: Barbara’s comment-response to Terreson’s question as to her own ideas and way about poetry – that her choices of subject in her blog posts are reflective of her overall interests and commitments to and within writing, if I’m hearing her right – has me recalling my first foray into reading John Ashbery’s art writings collected in [...] by Anselm Berrigan

“You’re Nobody Until Somebody Kills You.” October 11, 2009: I just finished another leg of this Bang Ditto tour which has felt like, at least for me, a great success so far.  This past week I did 5 shows from Oakland to City Lights Book Store and ending at Beyond Baroque in Venice last night.  Each show had it's own unique charm- whether I got to finally meet the crazy guy whose been writing me through [...] by Amber Tamblyn