Borders, we hardly knew ye September 19, 2011: America said farewell to its second-largest bookseller this weekend, in a flurry of vegetarian cookbooks, literary board games, and deeply-discounted industrial espresso machines. But the big box retailer’s loyal patrons weren’t letting a little thing like liquidation get them down! The Huffington Post reported from New York: The scene [...] by Harriet Staff

Unhappily Nappy? May 1, 2011: After the publication of my first book with Black Sparrow Press, publisher John Martin sent me a letter from a famous Objectivist poet who lauded my work and offered his literary support. However, he asked Martin if I were a prostitute. Because, if I were, then the work presented in Mad Dog Black Lady was truly amazing. Well—Martin had warned me [...] by Wanda Coleman

Rewriting Walter Benjamin’s “The Arcades Project” April 30, 2011: For the past five years, I have been working on a rewriting of Walter Benjamin's The Arcades Project set in New York City in the twentieth century called Capital. As of this writing, the book is about 500 pages long, approximately half way to the 1000+ pages that constitutes Benjamin's book. The idea is to use Benjamin's identical methodology in [...] by Kenneth Goldsmith

The Bad Wife Handbook and the bad poet. April 29, 2011: Rachel- I have had this book sitting on my shelf for a long time now, having purchased it but never reading it.  Jeff Mcdaniel reminded me of it.  I found it and read it last night.  It's incredible.  I am a bad, bad poet for not reading it sooner, especially since I am standing here in your living room, eating your lasagna and watching [...] by Amber Tamblyn

Hey Small Press! April 28, 2011: So, poets: how do printed copies of your books end up in libraries? Do they end up in libraries? What’s even going to happen to libraries? There have been plenty of stories lately about how libraries are changing, and that some—like this one in Newport Beach, California—might soon stop housing books, because a “transition toward an [...] by Kathleen Rooney

Have Come, Am Here April 27, 2011: I’ve been reading essays by Carlos Bulosan, published in On Becoming Filipino (Temple University Press, 1995), which is an excellent collection of his poetry, stories, essays, and correspondence, edited by the preeminent Filipino American and postcolonial scholar E. San Juan, Jr. From these essays, particularly, “I Am Not A Laughing [...] by Barbara Jane Reyes

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

Bishop revisited April 26, 2011: When that big collection of Bishop's drafts and scraps came out five years ago, I was unfavorably disposed towards it, though not as unfavorably as some: I didn't like the omnium-gatherum feel, the every-scrap-of-paper-is-as-precious-as-any-other-because-the-Great-Poet-touched-it sense that its reception (not so much the edition as the reception) [...] by Stephen Burt

Reading, and What’s On My Radar April 26, 2011: Holla, Rigoberto! Whatchu reading, you ask. Actually, I am reading the boisterous novel, Leche, by poet and novelist R. Zamora Linmark, as he will be in San Francisco this week, and I will be interviewing him at his I-Hotel Manilatown event (which falls on the same day as my 40th birthday). I also wanted to link to some poetry happenings, books, [...] by Barbara Jane Reyes

Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open by Diane Suess April 25, 2011: In 2010, I received 180 poetry books in the mail. All had been published that year, and the single book, (by an author that I’d never heard of), that surprised me the most, the one that grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go was Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open by Diane Seuss, winner of the Juniper Prize (University of Massachusetts [...] by Jeffrey McDaniel