Archive for January, 2010
Sina Queyras
On the Where of Reading
It doesn’t matter where one is someone said recently, thinking, reading, working, that happens anywhere. As someone who grew up on the move, quite literally upended at a days notice, I have always thought that is true. You make the best of where you are whether that’s three days in a car, spending the holidays at a motel thrust up like a tent in the middle of nowhere, or in a train station overnight in Lyon.
Bhanu Kapil
Notes on Mutation
What is a question? How do questions work in your writing? What do they perform? What happens when you ask them?
Some notes from my own attempt to think about this, originally written as a way to think about Jean Valentine’s “Little Boat,” for a collection of writing on her work collected by Kazim Ali, whom I have never met but look forward to (Who is Kazim Ali? Did he drink black coffee in Egypt from a tiny porcelain cup? That is a separate question) [meeting]:
A question: Literally, it’s a way of gathering information but not of processing it. As a mode of enquiry that’s also, linguistically, founded on doubt, on not having the words for what happens at the end of a relationship, the question seals space*.
Thom Donovan
Bruce Boone Weekend
This past weekend in New York City I will always remember as the Bruce Boone weekend. On Friday night Boone read as part of a launch event for Nightboat Books at Metro Pictures gallery in Chelsea. He was preceded by Evelyn Reilly and Marcella Durand, who read from the Eco Language Reader (co-published by Nightboat Books and Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs, edited by Brenda Iijima), Stephen Motika, the publisher of Nightboat, who introduced the readers and their books, Edwin Torres, who read from his book In the Function of External Circumstances, and Rob Halpern, who read from his forward to the Nightboat reissue of Boone’s 1980’s New Narrative classic, Century of Clouds. Triumphantly, Boone read from the final pages of Century of Clouds, wherein he breezily recalls the social atmosphere around the Marxist study group in which he, Fredric Jameson, and others participated.
Travis Nichols
“The only thing I’d really like to be.”
Comin thro’ the rye, poor body,
Comin thro’ the rye,
She draigl’t a’ her petticoatie
Comin thro’ the rye.
Oh Jenny ’s a’ weet poor body
Jenny ’s seldom dry,
She draigl’t a’ her petticoatie
Comin thro’ the rye.
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro’ the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body —
Need a body cry.
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro’ the glen;
Gin a body kiss a body —
Need the warld ken!
Bhanu Kapil
“So sonic intensity is tantamount to submerged embodied historiography.”
: (Th.Donov. on Fr. Moten): “Translate to color.” In the comment stream. And looped up, like a baby. Though if I had another baby, which would depend, quite frankly, upon meeting a competent and ecstatic South-Asian medical professional in the next thirty days: I might put it down (the baby not a suitor) on a sheepskin rug to roll around a bit. More than I did.
Craig Santos Perez
Gender, (Race), & Poetry (Part 2): Numbers & Unnumbered Trouble
*
some of you may be familiar with ‘NUMBERS TROUBLE,’ the essay by juliana spahr & stephanie young, published in the chicago review (2007), in response to jennifer ashton’s ill-conceived essay ‘our bodies, our poems.’ (you can read the spahr/young essay, ashton’s clumsy response, and a statistical report complied by joshua kotin & robert baird here). a major strand of the discussion involved gender equity in usamerican anthologies, literary journals, small presses, and prizes/awards.
*
the publication of ‘numbers trouble’ and the ensuing blog discussion created an important moment for editors and publishers to take a long, ethical look at our publishing practices. i was a new editor/publisher at the time and decided (with bated breath) to do an accounting of the press I co-founded, Achiote Press (tho i took it one step further and counted the ethnic breakdown as well–which remains an ‘unnumbered trouble’ in the discourse). in a blogpost dating back to 2007, i wrote (go below to find out):
Thom Donovan
Commoning part II
I am still wrapping my head around what happened at Lower Manhattan Cultural Counsel this past weekend. Clearly, it was one of those conversations that needed to happen because everyone had something to say about the topic of “commons.” In attendance were no less than twenty people, many of whom participated in the discussion including Alan Davies, Andrew Levy, Brenda Iijima, Lawrence Giffin, Evelyn Reilly, Bruce Boone, and a number of people who I didn’t know, but who had wonderful things to say regarding the necessities of their own practices as artists and culture workers. Daria Fain and Robert Kocik have a “space” grant through LMCC until June so we are hoping to have more talks and conversations in upcoming months which I will post about here. For my part, I presented the following at this past weekend’s gathering. A very inchoate talk about how art historical practices may benefit the creation and maintenance of a commons:
Sina Queyras
Caroline Bergvall’s Lingual Sculptures
Caroline Bergvall is a poet and text-based artist of Norwegian and French descent working out of London. I first heard Bergvall read at Blue Stockings, a wonderfully resilient little bookstore in the Lower East Side. As discussed in my previous post, Bergvall’s reading was one of those rare events that provide an absolutely transforming experience, taking me pleasantly outside of myself while rewiring neurons in my brain. I had not heard anything like it.
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Thom Donovan
Bhanu Kapil
Fred Moten
Craig Santos Perez
Sina Queyras
Sotère Torregian
STAFF WRITERS
Cathy Halley
Michael Marcinkowski
Travis Nichols
Fred Sasaki
Don Share
RECENT COMMENTS
-
@Sina:
Can a poet be “successful” outside of the academy?
... MORE »
Colin Ward | 03.13.10 -
People want to pretend there's an alternative to careerism. Would it were so. But as ... MORE »
Michael Robbins | 03.13.10 -
That's not a magic box, Joseph. It's called capitalism. What you seem so astonished at ... MORE »
Michael Robbins | 03.13.10 -
Oh wow, thank you Thom.
This is what I most needed to read today—more than anything. ... MORE »
Amber DiPietra | 03.13.10 -
I'm with you, John, and like your notion of a structural failing. In a way ... MORE »
Joseph Hutchison | 03.13.10
To Sonnet, to Son-net, Tuscon Net (46)
Women’s History Month: A Salute (3)
Teachability, Pedagogy, and Why You Can Easily... (5)
Poetry podcasts, online resources, oh and... (13)
Poetry, Politics, & Why I am Not an Activist (19)
RECENT POSTS
- Who or what is a poet critic and why is the academy so up in Poetry’s face?
- Beyond Careerism? (Redistributing Poetic Effort)
- To Live with Honor is a Journey Without Frontiers
- Teachability, Pedagogy, and Why You Can Easily Find My Book At Used Bookstores
- Women’s History Month: A Salute
MONTHLY ARCHIVE
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
CATEGORY ARCHIVE
- Arts (76)
- Audio (41)
- Awards (25)
- AWP (14)
- Best Sellers (6)
- Books (170)
- Criticism (202)
- Distribution (4)
- Education (38)
- Harriet (17)
- Interviews (15)
- Journals (266)
- Live Readings (34)
- Music (44)
- News (62)
- Obituaries (16)
- Photography (3)
- Poems (241)
- Poetry magazine (55)
- Poetry Out Loud (14)
- poetryfoundation.org (9)
- Politics (121)
- Readings (36)
- Science (12)
- Translation (25)
- Uncategorized (881)
- Video (22)
PREVIOUS WRITERS
- A.E. Stallings (54)
- Abigail Deutsch (17)
- Ada Limón (18)
- Adrian Blevins (3)
- Alan Gilbert (30)
- Amber Tamblyn (6)
- Andrew Feld (3)
- Ange Mlinko (73)
- Annie Finch (47)
- Anselm Berrigan (24)
- April Ossmann (5)
- Barbara Jane Reyes (21)
- Bhanu Kapil (9)
- Bill Zavatsky (5)
- Bread Loaf Writers' Conference (5)
- Brian Turner (5)
- C. Dale Young (4)
- Camille Dungy (31)
- Cate Marvin (2)
- Cathy Halley (21)
- Catherine Wagner (5)
- Cathy Park Hong (14)
- Christian Bök (61)
- Clare Cavanagh (5)
- Craig Santos Perez (20)
- D.A. Powell (24)
- Daisy Fried (46)
- Don Share (58)
- Edwin Torres (17)
- Eileen Myles (40)
- Emily Warn (29)
- Erin Belieu (5)
- Forrest Gander (25)
- Fred Moten (11)
- Fred Sasaki (16)
- Gillian Conoley (5)
- Harriet Monroe (1)
- Janet Holmes (5)
- Jason Guriel (24)
- Javier Huerta (31)
- Jeff Shotts (5)
- Jeffrey McDaniel (46)
- Joel Brouwer (22)
- John S. O'Connor (21)
- Jonathan Galassi (5)
- Joshua Beckman (5)
- Joshua Weiner (5)
- Joy Harjo (5)
- Katie Hartsock (3)
- Kay Ryan (5)
- Kazim Ali (5)
- Kenneth Goldsmith (114)
- Kim Addonizio (5)
- Kwame Dawes (99)
- Lavinia Greenlaw (18)
- Linh Dinh (72)
- Lisa Robertson (5)
- Lorna Dee Cervantes (1)
- Lucia Perillo (13)
- Major Jackson (30)
- Mark Nowak (31)
- Mark Thwaite (5)
- Martin Earl (17)
- Matvei Yankelevich (1)
- Maureen N. McLane (5)
- Mónica de la Torre (5)
- Melissa Friedling (17)
- Michael Dumanis (3)
- Michael Marcinkowski (5)
- Milan Gagnon (1)
- Monica Youn (6)
- Nick Twemlow (8)
- Olena Kalytiak Davis (16)
- Patricia Smith (66)
- Patricia Spears Jones (5)
- Peter Campion (5)
- Pimone Triplett (2)
- Poetry (1)
- Poetry Foundation (26)
- Rachel Zucker (30)
- Rebecca Wolff (20)
- Reginald Shepherd (43)
- Richard Siken (5)
- Rigoberto González (76)
- Robert Hershon (5)
- Rodrigo Toscano (1)
- Sina Queyras (19)
- Sotère Torregian (29)
- Stephen Burt (54)
- Steve Young (5)
- Terrance Hayes (5)
- Thom Donovan (19)
- Tonya Foster (5)
- Tracie Morris (5)
- Travis Nichols (100)
- Tyehimba Jess (5)
- Valerie Johnson (1)
- W.S. Di Piero (5)
- Wanda Coleman (19)
- Wave Books Poetry Bus Tour (40)
- William Logan (5)
IN THIS ISSUE: March 2010
A selection of new work from Dorothea Grossman; new poems by Lavinia Greenlaw, David Yezzi, A.E. Stallings, Gerald Stern, and Dan Gerber; translations of Carlo Betocchi, and Mahmoud Darwish; an Editorial on Ruth Lilly; an exchange between Ilya Kaminsky and Adam Kirsch; an essay by Chen Li; and a review by Daisy Fried.
CHICAGO EVENTS
Poetry Off the Shelf: David Baker
Fri, March 26th, 6:00 PM
Open Books
213 West Institute Place
Free admission
Copyright © 2010 Poetry Foundation Contact: mail@poetryfoundation.org Privacy Policy / Terms of Use
Poetryfoundation.org article RSS. Magazine RSS. Blog RSS. Poem of the Day RSS. Glossary Term of the Day RSS.