Sometimes they’re just really looooong poems… June 19, 2007: I have a friend named Rachel Kann. Her new book, "10 for Everything" is fresh off the press; I got my copy in the mail today. Turn the book over and marvel at one of the most sizzling author photos I've ever encountered--all gams and attitude, adorned with pigtails and an unflitered cig. The girl ain't playin'. Rachel Kann is a poet. She says so [...] by Patricia Smith

Complete with a surprise twist ending! June 13, 2007: What fun! I want to be sexy, cool and accessible too! So here's my very own pro-consumerist thingie! Thanks, Kenny! (You may notice that I don't touch as many things as Alexandra does, and I wouldn't know a Bvulgari if it fell on me.) First, my Motorola Then my KMart Then my Dell Then my Krups Then my Sonicare Then my Ivory Then my Crest Then my [...] by Patricia Smith

Samaritans? June 12, 2007: Kwame, I swear your life is just cooler than other people's. There you are, crisscrossing the landscape, being rescued and inspired by benevolent strangers, ruminating on the ultimate rightness of the world. My experience on America's byways has been exactly the opposite. I've traveled cross country a couple of times n my life--Boston to L..A., [...] by Patricia Smith

The Carpenters! June 8, 2007: by Patricia Smith

And the award goes to… June 6, 2007: So the other night I did one of those trademark New York things that everyone else in the world imagines they want to do. It was an unsettling mingling of glamor and grit--women in gowns with actual trains, men who'd paid their stylists for grunge, ivory business cards, heply tossed expletives, white-jacketed waiters, d**k in a box, asparagus and [...] by Patricia Smith

Don’t be jealous. June 5, 2007: I have partied with Emily Warn. I can die now. by Patricia Smith

First of all, copyright. June 4, 2007: I've had a poem stolen. Imagine my surprise when a friend mailed me a copy of one of my poems with somebody else's name on it. The scoundrel, a student at a middlin' Midwestern college, was in his creative writing classes passing off the work as his own in workshopping sessions. After receiving accolades for the piece (but of course), he adamantly [...] by Patricia Smith

Why has Patti been so quiet? May 29, 2007: Almost every day at Calabash, I'd grab my laptop and head down to a lounge chair at the edge of the sea (sorry) to commune with Harriet. Then, fortunately and unfortunately, I would happen upon the copious, deftly crafted musings of Kwame Dawes. Each day he wrote with such unbridled exhilaration. He wrote about the festival with the love of a [...] by Patricia Smith

I am, I said… May 21, 2007: Kenneth said: ...innovative or experimental writing lives only in the academy. The slam is arguably the most innovative, controversial and exhilarating poetry movement in decades. It is not only established as a force to be reckoned with, but has given the genre a cocky edge that wooed those who had long ago relegated poetry to dusty bookshelves. [...] by Patricia Smith

Missive From Outside the Academy. Really! May 21, 2007: Hi, my name is Patricia. I’m approximately 5’6” tall, a black woman with reddish-brown hair (paid in full), a thick waist and world hips. I love wearing sun hues—deep golds, copper, bronzes—and, probably because of those aforementioned world hips, I prefer flowing garments. Since I would rather eat glass then drive in Manhattan, I can [...] by Patricia Smith