Not such a spectral engagement: Charles Bernstein discusses poetics and OWS at Jacket2 December 9, 2011: You might want to drop that and head over to Jacket2, where Charles Bernstein and Jane Malcolm talk comprehensively about Occupy Wall Street, poetics, the truth, and what started as a "spectral" engagement on Bernstein's part, only to become a more direct understanding. As Bernstein says about midway through the conversation: There is a [...] by Harriet Staff

On ad-speak and poetry December 9, 2011: Ian Daly -- a "planning director and cultural strategist" at a marketing firm in New York called Anomaly -- recently compiled a list of words and phrases that he titled "Shit I Never Said Before Working in Advertising." A sampling: Blow it out Ladder it up Tease it out Bullet it out Build it out Build affinity Soft launch Hard [...] by Harriet Staff

The Arab Spring and the shelf life of political poetry December 9, 2011: In a recent article in the Asia Times, historian Sami Moubayed considers the fate of the revolutionary poetry composed by Arab writers of a previous generation -- people like Nizar Qabbani, who wrote in Beirut in the 1960s and then in London in the 1970s and 80s, becoming "a voice for the oppressed across the Arab world," writes Moubayed. He [...] by Harriet Staff

Jean Toomer is stuck in Rachel Kaadzi Gansah’s head December 9, 2011: The Paris Review continues its delightful "The Poem Stuck in My Head" series with a post from writer Rachel Kaadzi Gansah, who lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn and can look across the East River into Lower Manhattan. "It’s massive and always in motion," she writes. "At night, the buildings and the cars on the FDR look crystalline." And so she [...] by Harriet Staff

Interview with Susan Briante December 9, 2011: David Hadbawnik interviewed Susan Briante, and you can read it at Primitive Information. The conversation touches on such things as Capitalism, Russian Formalism, Sex, and cloning Janet Holmes. See: Finally, this is your second book with Ahsahta, after Pioneers in the Study of Motion several years ago. That kind of relationship with a press [...] by Harriet Staff

Flying Object in Conversation with Bateau Press December 9, 2011: The next feature in Flying Object's "The Machinations Of" series is an interview with Bateau Press editors Ashley Schaffer and James Grinwis. Here's a snippet. Fly on over for the rest. Who do you imagine your ideal reader to be? Well, anyone who can read! We really strive to have an eclectic body of work in each issue. This word is [...] by Harriet Staff

Rilke Bust Unveiled December 9, 2011: According to this article from The Prague Post: The first public monument honoring the German-language poet Rainer Maria Rilke, born in Prague Dec. 4, 1875, was unveiled at 16 Na Přikopě St. Dec. 7. The sculpture, by Vlasta Prachatická, is mounted onto the facade of a former German school Rilke attended as a child. At the [...] by Harriet Staff

Mexico’s Top iPad App? An Octavio Paz Poem! December 9, 2011: Yes! How cool is that!? Check it out, from The Next Web: If you think poetry can’t be popular, think again: the most popular free iPad app in Mexico’s app store is a poem, Blanco. So what is this app and why is it so successful? “Blanco” is the title of a poem in Spanish by the Mexican writer Octavio Paz (1914-1998), laureate of [...] by Harriet Staff

Matthea Harvey’s Of Lamb gets Oprah’d December 9, 2011: Check it out! by Harriet Staff

Remembering John Lennon’s Poetry and Prose December 8, 2011: Today marks the 31st anniversary of John Lennon's death (apparently fans are flocking to Strawberry Fields); and Jacket Copy has reminded us that the beloved musician also wrote books: "In His Own Write" and "A Spaniard in the Works" were small, witty collections of poetry, verse and Lennon's own illustrations, written early in his [...] by Harriet Staff