Only Excite: Babstock, Ball and a few last notes May 1, 2011: All the way through my earlier post about poetry that was not somehow far enough out, I was thinking, examples, examples, this post could use more precise examples. A few names, I gave. Alice Notley, Kenneth Goldsmith, Vanessa Place (whose work is more about making one extremely uncomfortable than “weeping” admittedly, though I know for a fact [...] by Sina Queyras

Poetry as Event: Belladonna* April 30, 2011: SQ: Rachel Levitsky, Belladonna* has been operating out of New York for nearly a decade now, and in that time has hosted the most innovative women writers of our time. Most of these women, save for a few key names, are largely unknown in the larger poetry world. In fact part of your mandate is to give those women who aren't receiving support a [...] by Sina Queyras

Teaching the Poetic Event April 29, 2011: Karis, I'm interested in this course you are developing on the "Poetics Research Site," which I'm assuming, since your specialty is Canadian literature, is about key poetry research sites or events in Canada. Can you tell me a little about where you got the idea for this? KS: I came up with the idea for this senior-undergraduate course on the [...] by Sina Queyras

I was not far enough out, and simply waving, not drowning April 25, 2011: Is poetry a domesticated art? Are we drowning in it? Or are we in fact not drowning enough? This is what I’m thinking as I peer out into a green ravine in the Druid Hills area of Atlanta. There is all this writing, but it seems very little gets said. And then we have the strand of thinking that says, well, it’s very difficult to say nothing [...] by Sina Queyras

This poetry thing goes both ways, or many ways at once April 20, 2011: The poet a.rawlings has been connecting students up with the contemporary poets they are reading. High school students that is. Scott Griffin, founder of the lucrative Griffin Prize for Poetry has begun a program that encourages high school students to memorize poetry and perform it, vying for a new prize. Over on Lemon Hound, I have invited a [...] by Sina Queyras

Public musings: balancing the role of the poet April 11, 2011: On my mind today: Ron Silliman’s blog, its demise, Kenneth Goldsmith's post on Ron Silliman, a response I had to a public proposal for a new poetry venture from a fellow Canadian poet, and a recent post I made here regarding the line. There is, in all of this diversity, an illustration of how complicated the public role of the poet can be. How [...] by Sina Queyras

What are we talking about when we talk about lines? April 6, 2011: Gillian asks about the line in the 22nd century, what will it look like and do. It’s a question that helps me get at another question that has been hounding me of late, one that concerns a certain strand of thinking that tends toward protecting poetry as if it’s an endangered species. This tendency seems to manifest itself in a concern for [...] by Sina Queyras

Thanks Harriet & Hello Future April 1, 2011: I want to say thanks to Harriet for inviting me back. I've missed the ongoing discussion over here. It's true, the blog has carried on, and I do find myself coming back to it once a week or so, but that's usually because of a Poetry Foundation Tweet, or a ReTweet from another poet, or a link that has been shared on Facebook (yes, I'm still on [...] by Sina Queyras

A few words and poems: Mairead Byrne April 30, 2010: SUMMER HOURS At sundown men in loose powder-blue overalls come in a white city truck and unfurl tarps stashed between the bars of the wrought-iron fence and nudge them up and out over the park occluding the darkening saturated sky, making a sky beneath the sky, a darker place through which they feel their way back, by smell, by touch, to [...] by Sina Queyras

The expat life April 23, 2010: Ange Mlinko and Marin Earl's posts on the experience of the expat poet resonate somewhat for me. I do remember a little "saudade," yes, more upon leaving the west coast, than my country, but yes, a bit of being "kicked out" of paradise. Not really, because I'm the one who left, but the heart is rarely rational. Overall though, my experience seems [...] by Sina Queyras