The world according to Wordsworth July 19, 2010: Do Wordsworth’s poetic dictums – stemming from his fascination with both inner and outer worlds - still hold true today?  How about "All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility"? David Biespiel at the Oregonian thinks so. In his most recent piece, he [...] by Poetry News

Yevtushenko’s house to become state-run museum July 19, 2010: The AP reports that celebrated Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko has given his house and art collection over to the state: The two-story museum in the writer's colony of Peredelkino, just outside Moscow, joins nearby house-museums, including those of Boris Pasternak and Bulat Okudjava. It contains paintings by Marc Chagall, Joan Miro, Pablo [...] by Poetry News

Ugly Duckling offers out-of-print poetry as e-books July 19, 2010: Ugly Duckling Presse--known for its letter press, limited edition, hand-sewn, art books as much as for its perfect-bound books--has become an unlikely player in the e-books game. The Publishing Perspectives blog reports that the Brooklyn-based non-profit is using the flash-based Issuu to make e-pub editions of chapbooks such as Hannibal Barca [...] by Harriet Staff

Hitchhiking the Poetry Superhighway July 17, 2010: Scampering behind the roadrunner-esque poetry radio post from yesterday that asked if poetry had to be so somber and serious (David Shapiro sez: "no") is the wily Rick Lupert, whose comedic take on life’s potholes makes bitter moments a bit more palatable. Fitting, considering that this architect of the Poetry Super Highway has just come out [...] by Poetry News

Canada’s coolest bards July 17, 2010: Canada’s contemporary poet laureates (17 in all) have come a long way since the post was instituted 400 years ago in King James’ court. The current crop of progressive poets convened for the first time in Halifax this week to discuss the importance of poetry in a country that just might be on “the cusp of an artistic renaissance”: "A [...] by Poetry News

Auden at home July 16, 2010: An old book scout (and Guardian columnist) went looking for rare books in Hay and turned up a rare copy of Auden: There has been a distinct up-marketing of the Hay bookshops, and even the most jaded old bookman (that would be me) can find things to covet, if not necessarily to buy. The best of these was at the excellent Poetry Bookshop, the [...] by Poetry News

The Sarah Palin poetry mother lode July 16, 2010: We all know that Sarah Palin has a unique way with words. But did we know that more than a few Palin-ites also have a way with the words? No we did not. Until now! The most famous woman from Wasilla has inspired lofty limericks that nearly equal the literary heights of her lipstick-on-a-pig zinger. Thank the Moose God of All Things Gosh Darnit [...] by Poetry News

Old Spice guy library poem July 16, 2010: It's Friday, yes? Well, then how about we all watch this Old Spice guy talk about libraries and come up with a poem worthy of Greg Oden: by Harriet Staff

Bearing witness through poetry July 16, 2010: Dr. Sarah Traister Moskovitz has translated a collection of Yiddish poetry originally composed by Jews trapped in the Warsaw Ghetto into English. Moskovitz has just put the translations up on a site called Poetry in Hell, and she recently talked to the Australian site J-Wire's staff about the project: “It’s like a time capsule of ghetto [...] by Harriet Staff

Literary lesbian love July 16, 2010: From cross-dressing Ovid to sexually confused spinsters, Emma Donoghue chronicles the Sapphic subtext beneath “plutonic” female relationships in Inseparable: Desire Between Women in Literature. Jessa Crispin’s review at The Smart Set explores how the book illuminates shadowy corners of the “old girls’ club.” It is also a commentary [...] by Harriet Staff