Poetry and race April 30, 2011: I’m kinda surprised that there hasn’t been any commentary on Harriet this month about the biggest and most heated discussion in the poetry world this spring—Claudia Rankine’s public questioning at the most recent AWP conference of Tony Hoagland’s poem “The Change.” Daisy Fried contributed a post just a few days ago that analyzed [...] by Alan Gilbert

Los Angeles Review of Books, or, poetry and finance April 28, 2011: Having spent much of the past decade working as a writer and editor on both sides of the print/electronic publishing divide, I’ve heard a lot of questions, but not many real solutions, concerning the eventual gravitation to the web of magazines and newspapers. For a living I edit an online academic reviews journal—caa.reviews—published by [...] by Alan Gilbert

the buddhist April 26, 2011: A year ago when I was writing for Harriet during National Poetry Month, I blogged about a reading given at White Columns here in New York City by Tim Griffin, Kevin Killian, and Dodie Bellamy. In my post I described Bellamy as “among the most significant underrecognized and underappreciated writers working today.” These things are relative, of [...] by Alan Gilbert

The natural April 20, 2011: Rachel Zucker’s April 1st post asking fellow Harrietiers (and others) if they wanted their poetry to be timely or timeless generated a number of interesting responses. Most seem to want to be at least partly on the side of timely. (One result of 9/11 is that it rendered the last of the timeless poets obsolete.) More precisely, most respondents [...] by Alan Gilbert

The common(s) April 16, 2011: Last April, when most of us here were Harriet blogging for National Poetry Month, Thom Donovan posted some questions he hoped would elicit response. For instance, his query, “Is there a particular historical moment or configuration that, though it is past, still holds conditions of possibility for the future?” prompted me to write, “Early to [...] by Alan Gilbert

Tweet Tweet April 7, 2011: For National Poetry Month, the Academy of American Poets asked a different poet to use Twitter each day. As is the case with most social media, the results have varied widely. D.A. Powell (fellow Harriet blogger from the summer of 2008) started things off on April 1 by asking, “What was the 1st poem you fell in love with?” which generated [...] by Alan Gilbert

Poetry and adoption April 5, 2011: In my previous post, I was trying to wander from a poetics of exile to a discussion of adoption, but I didn’t quite make it. I guess that’s appropriate for a “poetics of non-arrival” (Judith Butler’s phrase re: Kafka). But I do want to bring some attention here to a new blog started by Eileen Tabios and devoted to the relationship [...] by Alan Gilbert

A poetics of exile April 4, 2011: This is my third time blogging for Harriet, which partially brings to mind the phrase, “Welcome home.” And yet I’ve always been perplexed by what actually constitutes home. To remain on the verge of arrival is just a different way of saying liminal. I was having a conversation this morning with a yoga teacher friend who said she best [...] by Alan Gilbert

departing thoughts April 30, 2010: The last time I blogged for Harriet, it was a more intimate affair. It was the summer of 2008, and there were six of us (I think). Current bloggers Linh Dinh and Mark Nowak were in that batch, although I think Linh was blogging for more than just the summer. This time around has felt more frenetic. Maybe that’s just my own life, or maybe it’s [...] by Alan Gilbert

correction April 28, 2010: In my previous post, I asked—given Rob Fitterman’s direct appropriation of captions taken from photos archived at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum—whether or not Charles Reznikoff might be considered a forerunner of Conceptual poetics, especially given its heavy reliance on strategies of appropriation. (more...) by Alan Gilbert