New journal promises prestige, universal rejection January 26, 2011: Thanks to hair metal band Nazareth (and Gram Parsons), we will forever be reminded that love hurts. But for those who enter into the even more delicate courtship of journals, so does peer review. And as in love, there is a place for all tastes, including the most masochistic. Allow NPR's Planet Money blog to introduce you to the Journal of [...] by Harriet Staff

By E-Hook or E-Crook January 26, 2011: Poetry has quite made the e-book leap, and SPD remains our hub for all things small-press, but the distribution of e-books just got easier (or at least more centralized, since you could always just post your book free to a blog or something): BookBaby, a new service from Portland based CDBaby, provides indie authors, poets, and publishers a [...] by Harriet Staff

Where you at, Atwood? January 26, 2011: In October, Harriet posted on the Silver Car Sessions, a YouTube video series that features interview with poets filmed in a car—seems like a sedan. The videos are intimate not only because they feature close-ups of poets’ faces, which implies a sort of intimacy, but because the pixilated quality of the video / YouTube compression give the [...] by Harriet Staff

Dean Young update January 26, 2011: Coldfront has an update on Dean Young's heart transplant situation, along with this video of last week's benefit. The benefit helped raise money for Young's needed transplant, but there is still a request for more funds. You can donate here. by Poetry News

File Under: Waiting for Godot Video Game January 26, 2011: Check out this Waiting for Godot video game: by Harriet Staff

D.I.Y vs. Diversity January 26, 2011: Barbara Jane Reyes, on her blog, posts her thoughts about the stance of Filipino Americans towards the publishing industry. For some academics and activists, the goal is diversity, but for others, including Reyes, the goal is to create a means of publication and dissemination independent of the dominant industry: It isn’t enough for “some [...] by Harriet Staff

Skool’s Out January 26, 2011: Juliana Spahr posted an update, on her swoonrocket blog, about the Durutti Free Skool, an “aggregate” school (or should we keep typing “skool”?) consisting of nearly free classes (there’s a $20 tuition) held across the country. The experiment in pedagogy is aimed at the production of knowledge outside of the bounds of educational [...] by Harriet Staff

New York Times snow haiku seriously lacking in yetis January 25, 2011: The only thing worse than bad winter weather is that it's all that anyone talks about for months. Well The New York Times has come to the rescue, or rather, its readers have, by providing creative haiku on the subject of snow to make any awkward small talk a little more entertaining. Anwar Ragep sums up the mundane wintry conversations nicely with [...] by Poetry News

Navajo confront death (and end of life care) with poetry January 25, 2011: Navajo traditionally believe that death might come from talking about it. This makes the protocol for end of life care—wills, DNR directives, hospice wishes—incredibly difficult for Navajo families. But Mitzie Begay and Dr. Timothy Domer have found success using poetry to work with Navajo elders. The NYT has the story: The vehicle was a [...] by Harriet Staff

Iowa buried under record two-foot accumulation of poetry January 25, 2011: How do you bind a 10,000-page book of poetry? That was the question facing University of Iowa preservation assistant Bill Voss when faced with a 100-volume single poem by local poet Dave Morice. The book was the product of a poetry marathon, during which Morice wrote 100 pages of poetry every day between July and October. The book is two feet [...] by Harriet Staff