MFA vs. NYC vs. Everybody calm down November 30, 2010: Slate has excerpted Chad Harbach's n+1 essay on MFA programs and NYC literary culture to no small amount of hoopla. Like a good fight promoter, Harbach knows what will get his audience riled up (as evidenced in the comments.) The title comes out swinging, pitting the MFA crowd against NYC but instead of a fight to the death, Harbach is more [...] by Harriet Staff

More Modern Than Modern November 30, 2010: Syrian poet Adonis gives a rare interview to The National, in which he discusses poetry, history, and politics. In a conversation about his new Selected Poems, he says that the translation of his work into English does not simply allow English-language readers a new view of Arab poetry, but is a personal opportunity for a new view on his on work: [...] by Harriet Staff

File Under: Yes, Please November 30, 2010: An image of Boba Fett, made out of letters, and appropriately titled "Boba Font." Ha! Visual poetry at its cleverest. by Poetry News

Wait a Minute, David Cross writes poetry? November 30, 2010: This week, actress Amber Tamblyn talked about her love for poetry with the New York Post. As Harriet readers know, she’s been writing poetry even before her acting career took off, and retains a love for the art. And she’s gearing up for “Comedy Does Poetry ... Does Comedy!,” a benefit for Bowery Arts & Sciences which will also include [...] by Poetry News

The future is not in your hands (or John Updike’s) November 30, 2010: In an effort to create a sustained literary reputation for John Updike (doesn’t he already have one?), the John Updike Society held its first conference last month. The conference, which included academic papers and tours of his childhood homes, seems to have been both scholarly and weirdly personal, according to The Millions: No detail [...] by Poetry News

A grouchy take on the National Book Awards November 30, 2010: Bob Hoover at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was happy that the National Book Awards honored Carnegie Melon's Terrance Hayes for his poetry. But other than that? Harumph: Ultimately, it's the judges who decide the outcome of America's top literary awards. Some are well known -- Cornelius Eady and Linda Gregerson in poetry, Sallie Tisdale and [...] by Poetry News

Christopher Cartmill talks Tennyson, handy sonnets, and P.D. Eastman November 30, 2010: Actor and playwright Christopher Cartmill performs Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King this Friday at the Art Institute of Chicago. He took a moment to talk to Harriet about his favorite—and least favorite—words. *** What line or poem do you find yourself sharing again and again? There's a line from "Idylls of the King: The [...] by Poetry Foundation

Twitterggans Wake November 30, 2010: We know, we know, the above heading takes a website with a punning name, “Twinnegans Wake,” and makes another, lesser pun of it. Lame. However, it couldn’t be resisted, and sometimes, when things can’t be resisted, we must freely choose them! Case in point: a poetic project employing text-message-based auto-correcting functions. [...] by Harriet Staff

American hybrid, stay away from me-ee November 29, 2010: Hybridity is in the air! Just in time for the Chevy Volt, Christine Hume has published “Hybrity: A Card Game,” an interactive piece of literary criticism, on poets.org. The “game” is pretty simple: one clicks on the deck of cards, and a paragraph appears concerning an aspect of the debate around hybridity. And by referring the reader to [...] by Poetry News

Too much of a good thing November 29, 2010: There is, surrounding contemporary poetry, a consistent cloud of anxiety. The specific cause of this anxiety is the flood of published books and poems (i.e. contemporary poetry has no fixed object to which we can relate it). Basically: if everything is publishable, then how will I know what to read? And more insistently: how will readers know to [...] by Harriet Staff