Stutter April 27, 2011: I was thrilled to see Jeffrey McDaniel throw some love at Diane Seuss. Here’s a link to an interview I conducted with her last fall over at Critical Mass. I found out about her book visiting Poetry Daily--don’t forget to toss a few bucks in that direction, by the way, during their National Poetry Month fund drive! I do, year after year. [...] by Rigoberto González

Whatchu Reading…? April 25, 2011:   The MFA writing workshop is only part critical feedback, and those enrolled in the Rutgers-Newark program know that I’m big on citizenship--on reading poetry books and reporting back with recommendations and reviews, on sharing the book-love online. Poets have to talk about the work of other poets. It’s like that in the literary [...] by Rigoberto González

Lucky Fish April 23, 2011: Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s third book, recently released by Tupelo Press (which also published Miracle Fruit and At the Drive-In Volcano) affirms her reputation as one of the master miners of the curios fact in science, history, nature and culture. With unparalleled ease, she’s able to weave each intriguing detail into a nuanced, [...] by Rigoberto González

“Bookjoy!” April 21, 2011: I’m borrowing poet Pat Mora’s favorite expression, and riffing from Javier Huerta’s list entry, although my list will be shorter and I’ll also add a few words of praise about these, my favorites books. Wish Huerta had done the same... ouch! (Much love, Javi, you know I think you’re mad-cool, mi osito de peduche, my laughing [...] by Rigoberto González

I Aspire to Kwame-ness (Ode to the Desk) April 17, 2011: Prolific output is my weakness, and writers who can crank out poems, pages, chapters, books are my inspiration. They mirror my hunger for more of anything literary, they represent the labor hunched over the desk — backaches, neck pain, the late night struggle of kicking sleep off the face. But, oh what sweet pleasure. Besides Kwame Dawes, [...] by Rigoberto González

Red Clay Weather April 15, 2011: Reginald Shepherd (1963-2008) A former Harriet poet, Shepherd’s sixth collection was published posthumously by the University of Pittsburgh Press earlier this year. Though this is Shepherd’s work, the book was edited and structured by his partner Robert Philen. I felt it was more than appropriate to respond to the book as a tribute to a [...] by Rigoberto González

Rojo Que Te Quiero Rojo April 11, 2011: Gillian Conoley’s prompt has stayed with me since she first posted the question about the poet’s palette. It merits a more creative approach to a response. Since my forthcoming book is called Black Blossoms I guess the answer is an easy one for me: my palette’s colors are dark, always have been--black, blood-red, bruised blue. The lens, [...] by Rigoberto González

Nuyorican, Nuyorexican April 9, 2011: I spent the last few days at the Latino Literary Imagination Conference at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, among a community of humanities scholars who have been steps ahead of what the 2010 census revealed: that Latinos are the largest minority in the United States, that soon we will be the majority. Latino intellectuals and artists [...] by Rigoberto González

Dhaka Dust April 7, 2011: Dilruba Ahmed’s debut collection of poems Dhaka Dust (Graywolf Press, winner of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Bakeless Prize, selected by Arthur Sze) arrived to my book reviewer’s desk a few weeks ago. It is set to be released in June, but I wanted to make a special mention of it on Harriet during National Poetry Month. As I leafed [...] by Rigoberto González

Casa Pequeñita April 4, 2011: I’m thrilled to see some of my favorite people on Harriet — Ada, Barbara Jane, Bhanu, Alicia Stallings, Patricia S., among others (I’ll get to Kwame in a future post) — these are poets whose work and panache I admire. It also appears our paths cross more often than not, one way or another — the nature of the po-biz, I suppose. [...] by Rigoberto González