Ethnic imbalance September 23, 2010: Ten, a new anthology that reflects the multicultural makeup of contemporary British poets, counts for more than its outstanding verse, writes Lara Pawson in the Guardian: One of the reasons Ten matters is because it redresses a gross imbalance, namely that under 1% of poetry books published in the UK are by black or Asian poets. Pawson uses the [...] by Harriet Staff

Channeling Ginsberg September 23, 2010: Before you see Franco's Ginsberg, remember Ginsberg's "Howl." In interview posted in our articles section, poet D.A. Powell speaks with Howl directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. They discuss how the motion picture stays true to the poem's essence - and to Ginsberg's far-reaching vision. Poet Michele Sommers, a former student of [...] by Poetry News

Deliciously all over the place September 22, 2010: So says Joseph Goosey of Mairéad Byrne's The Best Of (What’s Left Of) Heaven, a smelly potpourri of poems. Byrne's work is distinguished by the way she experiments with space, opines Goosey in the Rumpus: Space, both the absence and a presence of it, appears to be the main concern Heaven. In individual poems, small series of interconnected [...] by Harriet Staff

On the latest Heaney September 22, 2010: Themes of age and youth link up in Seamus Heaney's latest collection, Human Chain, writes Troy Jollimore in the Washington Post. The book is elegiac and yet fresh, marked by Heaney's signature musicality. Visiting the house of a late friend, Heaney feels Intruder almost, wanting to take flight Yet well aware that here was no danger, Only [...] by Harriet Staff

Freshmen forced to read poetry September 22, 2010: It was a surprising yet enlightened choice, writes Joann Byrd in Seattle's Crosscut. The selection committee at the University of Washington chose a volume of poetry (The horror! The horror!) for this year's Common Book, a text that "introduces freshmen to the college-level process of academic inquiry."  Why ever would UW make such a bold - yet [...] by Poetry News

Expanding the canon September 22, 2010: Timothy Yu, a poet and professor of English and Asian American Studies,  solidly makes a case for Asian American poetry at the Academy of American Poets website. Though Asian American poetry is largely absent from the cannon today, Yu points out its early centrality to Asian American studies: Any classroom account of how we came to be studying [...] by Harriet Staff

A sketchy Scotsman September 22, 2010: A laconic article in The Scotsman informs its readership of the poet-spy who floated in its midst decades ago. Compton Mackenzie worked for MI6—the British secret service—before writing a tome titled, apparently, Whisky Galore. (If that doesn't ring a bell: the book was then adapted into the film Whisky Galore!) The spy didn't bother [...] by Poetry News

It’s the end of the world as we know it September 22, 2010: Well, not just yet. Maybe it's only the decline of western (literary) civilization, suggests Prague Post critic Stephan Delbos. In a meandering inquiry, he begins with a quote from a literary godfather . . . “To have great poets, there must be great audiences,” declared Walt Whitman, the father of American poetry. Indeed, one wonders [...] by Harriet Staff

A chorus of voices from Katrina September 21, 2010: Poet Cynthia Hogue had just published When the Water Came: Evacuees of Hurricane Katrina, a book of interview-poems she co-authored with photographer Rebecca Ross, when she came across "The Voices of Hurricane Katrina, Parts I and II" located in our articles section. The articles deal with the ethics of poetic appropriation. When the Water [...] by Poetry News

What’s so funny about Whitman’s peace, love, and beauty? September 21, 2010: On September 11th, 2001, Dan Vaughn was sitting in his survey of American Literature class when his professor announced that a plane had struck one of the World Trade Center Towers. His prof then wrote “Walt Whitman” on the board and had the class open to “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” letting poetry talk when the world was speechless: That [...] by Poetry News