Midnight in Paris increases sales of The Making of Americans July 22, 2011: For those of you who loved Kathy Bates as Gertrude Stein in Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen's newest (hit?!), you'll be glad to know that the appearance has, in fact, affected the sales of Stein's work. Forgive us for making it Dalkey-Stein week here at Harriet! It's just that it's all so darn interesting. Dalkey Archive's publisher talks in [...] by Harriet Staff

Hail the hatchet man? July 22, 2011: This week at Slate, Robert Pinsky describes the review that supposedly killed John Keats. We've heard this one before, but oh, it's worth revisiting, particularly when Pinsky shares some of the most lethal lines. Here's John Wilson Croker on Endymion: Reviewers have been sometimes accused of not reading the works which they affected to [...] by Harriet Staff

PEN Center USA launches the Mark Program July 22, 2011: The PEN Center USA has announced a new endeavor, in conjunction with its Emerging Voices fellowship, called the Mark Program. From the website: The Mark is a rigorous manuscript finishing school for Emerging Voices alumni. Each year, the program offers two cycles, one for Fiction/Non-fiction and one for Poetry. Three to four applicants [...] by Harriet Staff

From Shakespeare to Jay-Z July 22, 2011: Kingsley Daley, who performs under the name Akala, believes the only thing standing between Bill Shakespeare and Jay-Z is 500 years, and he's probably right. According to an article from New Zealand's Otago Daily Times: Daley, or Akala as he is better known, is the founder of London-based Hip Hop Shakespeare company and works with young [...] by Harriet Staff

Worried about the wretched state of the U.S. economy? Write a haiku about it! July 21, 2011: An article from the Washington Post’s blog calls attention to one way of coping with our nation's battered economy. The idea originated in the Twitter account of Nu Wexlers, communications director for House Budget Committee Democrats. Here you have it: On Tuesday the communications director for House Budget Committee Democrats sent out [...] by Harriet Staff

Complimentary scenes from The Cake Part July 21, 2011: Publication Studio, the new print-on-demand press, has another adventure before it—this time featuring poet Stacy Doris, whose book, The Cake Part, it has just published. The book was actually written in 1994, with "leaks here and there." According to the Publication Studio release: The Cake Part is a fantastic redeployment of banned [...] by Harriet Staff

The language of birdsong: Pleeek; plick; plid-plid! July 21, 2011: Touring the Nation’s Books and Arts page today brought us back to one of our favorite recent pieces by Poetry contributor Ange Mlinko. "Is there a human language without birdsong in it?" asks Mlinko in a review of John Bevis’s aaaaw to zzzzzd: The Words of Birds. She starts with the evolution of birdcalls: As with humans, specific [...] by Harriet Staff

A bozo’s a bozo’s a bozo’s a bozo July 21, 2011: On Sunday, a guard manning the Gertrude Stein exhibit at San Francisco's Contemporary Jewish Museum decided to crack down on a hand-holding lesbian couple. Opines witness Jane Levikow, "The idea that in 2011, in San Francisco, at the Jewish Museum, this guard could be that out of touch was shocking." According to an article in the San [...] by Harriet Staff

Welcome to Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop July 21, 2011: If you're one of the lucky hundreds who has spent a lovely weekend afternoon roaming the sensorial Brooklyn Flea, you might have come across Berl's Brooklyn Poetry Shop, a newish business venture run by poets Farrah Field and Jared White (also a happy couple and the great minds behind Yardmeter). And hooray, Berl's is currently the featured [...] by Harriet Staff

Peter Cooley and Aftermaths July 21, 2011: Poet and Tulane University professor Peter Cooley is broadening his poetic efforts in a new collection entitled Aftermaths, which will involve traveling to small towns in Louisiana and interviewing people about their thoughts after Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. The author of eight collections—the most recent a [...] by Harriet Staff