Six File Sharing Epiphanies April 22, 2011: Epiphany No 1: While I could discuss any number of musical epiphanies I've personally experienced over the past half a century, all of them would pale in comparison to the epiphany of seeing Napster for the first time. Although prior to Napster I had been a member of several file sharing communities, the sheer scope, variety and seeming [...] by Kenneth Goldsmith

it’s too much April 22, 2011: I'm sorry. I just can't do it. I don't have the energy. Maybe I never did. Every week, every day, I get email and Facebook notices and for that matter word of mouth about the latest debate or commentary or controversy or metapoetic metaconversation (sometimes it's even attached to actual poems) on one of three dozen fine websites and active blogs [...] by Stephen Burt

flashlight on LAURA MORAN April 22, 2011: I first encountered Laura Moran back in the first half of the 90’s, in the Poetry Slam world. A few years ago, we reconnected when she contacted me about doing a feature at the library where she works in Narrowsburg, New York (population 414). It always pleases me so much to bump into people from the early days of the slam community and see them [...] by Jeffrey McDaniel

In Praise of the Filipino Hustle April 21, 2011: [That's me, with Eileen Tabios, in 2001 or 2002, toasting Manuel Ocampo's painting Die Kreuzigung Christi.] It’s recently been brought to my attention that in the APIA literary scene, so many of the “movers and shakers” are Filipino Americans. Is this true? I had to think about it, and while I think my perception isn’t objective, [...] by Barbara Jane Reyes

POETS’ STRIKE April 21, 2011: I was at the gym a few days ago and I was mulling a piece of writing I was working on about an artist Oscar Tuazon. He’s a sculptor from the northwest who lives in Paris. His sculptures are kind of anti-buildings, often threatening to bring down the building they are designed to fit. His sculptures mock and attack the building in a way. As an [...] by Eileen Myles

from some cats talking about making stuff April 21, 2011: Tiger Kitty: No. I think this is proven in one one could name. I don’t have to name it now. I think you all know what I would mean. In certain battles that go on while you’re meowing, for example. Your destroying of the picture, your negation, and your constant desire to be free. Every cat wants to be free. That is, you want to create in a [...] by Anselm Berrigan

“Bookjoy!” April 21, 2011: I’m borrowing poet Pat Mora’s favorite expression, and riffing from Javier Huerta’s list entry, although my list will be shorter and I’ll also add a few words of praise about these, my favorites books. Wish Huerta had done the same... ouch! (Much love, Javi, you know I think you’re mad-cool, mi osito de peduche, my laughing [...] by Rigoberto González

My Time of the Month April 21, 2011: Today I was walking in Trader Joe’s and one of the women who works there smiled at me, and I realized it was that time of the month again. Let me explain. Every month or two, I go to a barbershop and have my hair and beard buzzed down to a stubble with an electric razor. Then I pretty much let it grow wildly for a month or two, until my beard [...] by Jeffrey McDaniel

Take a picture; it’ll last longer. April 21, 2011: I’m a little late to the party on this one, but Gillian Conoley, I admire your Second Questions for Poetry post, in which you ask: “What is your palette? What colors are most often present in your work? How does color act within your poems?” I don’t know what color my poems are, but I do like trying to decide the color of other [...] by Kathleen Rooney

Poem as Comic Strip Redux April 21, 2011: A few years ago this site published a short-run feature called "Poem as Comic Strip," for which some of today’s most vital graphic novelists were invited to interpret a poem of their choice from the Foundation’s archive. Ed Park, the series editor, wrote: Heightened language—one possible or partial definition of poetry—isn’t the [...] by Fred Sasaki