He’s the Greatest Dancer (and Britney’s not so bad either) February 11, 2008: In my younger and thinner days, I used to go out dancing all the time. In Boston, in Providence (whenever I could get a ride), in Buffalo, in Chicago, I had what might be called “every night fever.”? In Boston, where last call was at two, I rarely got to bed before two or three; in Buffalo and Chicago, where last call was at four, I rarely got [...] by Reginald Shepherd

Opening the Window to Get Some Fresh Air February 8, 2008: I'm very gratified by the strong response my recent posts, especially "AWP, Communazis, and Me" and "Who You Callin' 'Post-Avant'," have received. It's wonderful to know that people are reading and that they care enough to comment. However, I have been disturbed by the tenor of many (by no means all) of the responses, which have been hostile and [...] by Reginald Shepherd

Who You Callin’ “Post-Avant”? February 6, 2008: I was prompted to write this entry by the citation of my blog entry "Orwellian Me" in article called "Blogging the AWP, Part Two," on the Chronicle of Higher Education's "*Footnoted from Academic Blogs" page. Author Jennifer Howard cited me discussing the shifting boundaries of "inside" and "outside" in the poetry worlds; noting my use of the [...] by Reginald Shepherd

Orwellian Me February 3, 2008: I have just returned from my second time attending the AWP conference, which (like last year) was wonderfully exhilarating and utterly overwhelming. Here in Pensacola I lead a life rather thoroughly isolated from any literary community or scene, and so the opportunity to see and talk to so many fellow writers was and is particularly exciting to [...] by Reginald Shepherd

AWP, Communazis, and Me January 28, 2008: This post is in two parts. The first is a simple announcement of my participation in the upcoming AWP Conference in New York City. I am chairing a panel on Saturday, February 2 at from noon to one fifteen on Gay Male Poetry Post Identity Politics, featuring “emerging”? poets Christopher Hennessy (whose wonderful blog Outside the Lines focuses [...] by Reginald Shepherd

My New Book of Essays January 25, 2008: My first book of prose, Orpheus in the Bronx: Essays on Identity, Politics, and the Freedom of Poetry, is just out in the University of Michigan Press Poets on Poetry series, and I have to share the news. This is a project on which I’ve been working for several years, and I’m incredibly excited that it’s finally come to fruition. I got my [...] by Reginald Shepherd

Howard Nemerov on the Difficulty of Difficult Poetry January 23, 2008: Howard Nemerov (1920-1991) is almost forgotten today, but he was an excellent poet (in the post World War II formalist mode so scorned today, especially by those who know nothing about it) and a brilliant thinker about poetry. (He was also photographer Diane Arbus's older brother.) His witty and formally exquisite poetry deserves to be better [...] by Reginald Shepherd

Listmania January 19, 2008: At the end of my previous post, in which I listed and briefly discussed some of my favorite books of poetry published in 2007, I promised or threatened that there were more lists to come. I truly do love lists, and once I started making them I found it hard to stop. So here are a couple of other lists pertaining to books of poetry published in [...] by Reginald Shepherd

More Thoughts on Translation January 16, 2008: I had planned to post this as a reply in the comments section to Vivek Narayanan’s eloquent response to my posts on translation and my post on Paul Celan in particular, but I’ve decided that both the topic and my reply are substantive enough to warrant a new post. (One of the advantages of blogging is a much greater level of response than one [...] by Reginald Shepherd

These Were a Few of My Favorite Things January 15, 2008: I almost titled this post “Everybody’s Doing It, Why Can’t I?”? (after the Cranberries' first album), since it seems de rigueur to compile year-end lists of various kinds (ten best Britney Spears meltdowns, ten worst George W. Bush malapropisms, etc.). I actually love lists but, as usual, I decided to jump on the bandwagon after it had not [...] by Reginald Shepherd