New Children’s Poet Laureate: Kenn Nesbitt June 18, 2013: The Poetry Foundation announced its newest Children's Poet Laureate: Kenn Nesbitt. Nesbitt is the author of The Tighty-Whitey Spider (2010), My Hippo Has the Hiccups (2009), and Revenge of the Lunch Ladies (2007). He was born in Berkeley, California and grew up across the golden state, in Fresno and San Diego, before majoring in computer [...] by Harriet Staff

At The Rumpus: Frank O’Hara’s Poems Retrieved June 17, 2013: At The Rumpus, Barbara Berman pointed us in the direction of the reissue of this collection: Poems Retrieved, by Frank O'Hara- edited by Donald Allen. It looks like an excellent complement to the selected and collected poems of O'Hara that have been in circulation for so long. Poems Retrieved is comprised of O'Hara's early work: poems that [...] by Harriet Staff

It’s That Time Again: ‘The Decline of American Verse’ at Harper’s June 17, 2013: Mark Edmundson gives new meaning to the term "poetry slam" in an essay published in the July 2013 issue of Harper's. It's inauspicious, supposedly on the "decline of American verse," and opens with reverence for Robert Lowell: I was taken by the artistry of the lines [in “Waking Early Sunday Morning” (1967)], by their subtlety and [...] by Harriet Staff

On Grammar June 17, 2013: Sherman Alexie's tweet "Grammar cops are rarely good writers. Imagination always disobeys." has generated a slew of responses across the twitter-universe. Mediabistro's GalleyCat rounds up a few of their fave responses (in the hundreds!) to Alexie's anti-grammar quip. John Scalzi (@scalzi) @Sherman_Alexie Grammar cops are annoying, [...] by Harriet Staff

Popsickle Lit Fest, 2013 June 17, 2013: You know it's summer in Brooklyn when the Popsickle literary fest is popping off! The venue this year is LaunchPad, a fantastic art space with a backyard on 721 Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn. Check out this schedule for all readings and events: Saturday, June 22, 2013 Schedule: 1-2PM Marisa Crawford | Jasmine Dreame Wagner | Seth [...] by Harriet Staff

Colombia Poet Selling Cajones in Poetry for Peace Effort June 17, 2013: One for the odd books: Colombian poet Raffael Medina Brochero has decided to sell his sweet breads, cajones, sad sacks, you know, to raise $20K for a poetry tour, according to Colombia Reports: The artist, Raffael Medina Brochero, said the money would be used to fund a tour through Europe while presenting “Poetry for Peace in [...] by Harriet Staff

New Tom Raworth Poem Makes New of NOC Search Terms June 14, 2013: Posted recently to the tumblr A Fiery Flying Roule is a new poem from Tom Raworth in response to the U.S. security breach; he calls it "Just a quick doodle with some of the trigger-words in the Department of Homeland Security 'Analyst Desktop Binder.'" See it below but read that tumblr in general, real good. by Harriet Staff

Harold Norse: ‘I’m Not a Man’ June 14, 2013: You'll want to stumble over to the City Lights blog today to read "I'm Not a Man," by one of those great neglectarinos Harold Norse. As the good editors write: Often categorized as a Beat writer, poet and memoirist Harold Norse created a body of work that used everyday language and images to explore and celebrate both the commonplace and the [...] by Harriet Staff

The Griffin Poetry Prize Winners Are In!! June 14, 2013: And they are (in the International Poetry category): Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me, and Other Poems, by Ghassan Zaqtan, and translated by Fady Joudah. Judge Wang Ping writes: What does poetry do? Nothing and everything, like air, water, soil, like birds, fish, trees, like love, spirit, our daily words … It lives with us, in and [...] by Harriet Staff

SF Weekly Reviews The Collected Poems of Philip Lamantia June 14, 2013: In this latest installment of SF Weekly's Read Local column, Alexis Coe reviews The Collected Poems of Philip Lamantia, forthcoming from UC Press. Check it out! In the introduction to The Collected Poems of Philip Lamantia, Lawrence Ferlinghetti remembers Lamantia's voice as "the most distinctive poetic sound I had ever heard." Much of his [...] by Harriet Staff