Gertrude Stein dance party March 28, 2011: Check out the Nederlands Dans Theater 2 perform a dance version of Gertrude Stein’s poem “Shutters Shut.” It rules! by Poetry News

Publishers Weekly asks after imaginary audiences March 28, 2011: As part of its National Poetry Month package, Publishers Weekly profiles four poets—Bruce Smith, Tracy K. Smith, Srikanth Reddy, and David Orr—asking all "who do you imagine is the ideal reader for your book"? Quoth Srikanth: When I was four years old, the American space program launched two probes—Voyager 1 and Voyager 2—into [...] by Poetry News

David Orr chimes in on Oprah Magazine‘s adventures in poetry March 25, 2011: In his "On Poetry" column for the New York Times, Orr acknowledges he shouldn't be reflexively depressed by O Magazine's first ever poetry issue (edited by Maria Shriver, to be read here), and yet there is something about the whole thing that gets on his nerves: “Spring Fashion Modeled by Rising Young Poets.” The words are heart-sinking. [...] by Harriet Staff

Poetry best sellers, March 13-21, 2011 March 25, 2011: After months in migratory flight away from the contemporary best seller list, Derek Walcott’s White Egrets has returned. It sits atop the list, ahead of four Mary Oliver books (four!). Then rounding out the top ten are two debuts: Anita Skeen’s Never the Whole Story, and Les Murray’s Taller When Prone. The Observer noted on the occasion of [...] by Harriet Staff

A digital library, but not that digital library March 25, 2011: Robert Darton contributes a piece to the New York Times opinion pages today, arguing that even though we should see the rejection of the Google settlement as a victory for authors and everyone, we should still consider the idea of a universal public library: We should not abandon Google’s dream of making all the books in the world [...] by Harriet Staff

$50,000 for Andrew Motion’s favorite poem March 25, 2011: The National Post reports: The organizers of a new literary prize announced on Thursday they will award $50,000 to a single poem. Describing it as “the biggest poetry competition in history,” organizers of the Montreal Poetry Prize said the initiative “represents a major contribution to the global cultural scene.” UK poet laureate [...] by Poetry News

“The lush Maui retreat of W.S. Merwin, US poet laureate” March 25, 2011: The Wall Street Journal takes a look at Merwin's digs: When Mr. Merwin first saw it in 1976, it was mostly covered with dry, waist-high grass. At one time, the area had been a thick forest of prized Acacia koa trees. But those had been cut down, and the area ruined beyond agricultural use by poor irrigation techniques. Still, he was enchanted [...] by Poetry News

Reading Liu Xiaobo in South Africa March 24, 2011: BOOK Southern Africa has posted videos from a reading last week organized by South African PEN and Poetry International Web South Africa. Part of a protest reading that took place in 33 countries around the world, South African writers shared their own prison writing alongside English and Afrikaans translations of Liu's "Charter 08" and "You [...] by Poetry News

Twelve filmmakers respond to Li-Young Lee’s poetry and the city of Chicago March 24, 2011: In a recent essay, Alastair Cook explored the genre of poetry-film and the delicate collaborative balance between a poet and a filmmaker. The City in Which, co-produced and curated by Joshua Dumas and Christy LeMaster, adds not one (or even two) filmmakers to the equation, but a grand total of twelve to create one final product. Dumas and LeMaster [...] by Poetry News

Wordsworth’s house burns down March 24, 2011: According Bloomberg.com, one of Wordsworth's homes suffered a spark: One of the Lake District homes of the English romantic poet William Wordsworth was severely damaged by fire in the early hours of yesterday morning, the Guardian reported. The blaze was probably caused by an electrical fault in the roof space, the newspaper said. The [...] by Poetry News