Libryrinths April 20, 2011: The library I frequented when I was a little girl still looks much like it did in the 1970s and 80s. I'd like to revisit it someday, browsing the children's stacks where I found and lost so many stories. I say lost because, though no one ever speaks of it (would it be unjust or disloyal to my favorite institution?), the books one borrows and [...] by Ange Mlinko

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

“An Antidote to Loneliness” April 18, 2011: Anisa Onofre, co-editor of Aztlan Libre Press, has pointed me to this 1999 article on Norma Alarcón, upon the 20th anniversary of Third Woman Press. I am especially struck by this paragraph: Third Woman Press began originally as an antidote to loneliness, when Alarcón -- a specialist in feminist critical theory, cultural criticism, and [...] by Barbara Jane Reyes

The University as the Poet’s Community April 15, 2011: There is a tantalizing thought that has been eating at me for a while and I still am not sure I have worked it out fully yet. It started to get at me in the middle of my tribute of sorts to the community of African American staff folks at the University of South Carolina who helped to make me feel valued as a professor and as a necessary part of [...] by Kwame Dawes

“School/Period”: Chicano Renaissance April 15, 2011: I would like to make a suggestion to the Poetry Foundation: that "Chicano Renaissance" be added as a "School/Period" in its Poems/Poets page. In order for this to work, though, the Poetry Foundation would have to add the following poets not yet included on their website: alurista, Alberto "Lalo" Delgado, Jose Montoya, Raul Salinas, Luis Omar [...] by Javier Huerta

UNMENTIONABLE MATTERS April 7, 2011: People whose concept of themselves is largely dependent on their racial identity and superiority feel threatened by a multiracial person. The insistence that one must align oneself with this or that race is basically racist. And the notion that without a racial identity a person can’t have any identity perpetuates racism…I wish I could say [...] by Kwame Dawes

The Meme Museum April 5, 2011: Darren Wershler has coined a term, "conceptualism in the wild," to describe practices which rage through the internet that are predicated upon earlier avant-garde tendencies without having the slightest knowledge of them. These most often involve memes. A typical "conceptualism in the wild" meme would be the series of re-subtitled Downfall [...] by Kenneth Goldsmith

Time 2 April 5, 2011: Kathleen, I liked your post! And I agree the timely/timeless question is a bit of a false dichotomy. And, yes, most people I’ve asked are saying some version of “both.” Still, I think the question is worth asking, worth thinking about. I see a shift toward valuing “timeliness” or being more willing to talk about the pleasure of [...] by Rachel Zucker

Madness. Love. Poetry. Thutt. April 5, 2011: It can be seen as obnoxious to write in a public forum about one’s yoga practice. I get it. I do. But I’m going to do it anyway, in the interest of doing some craft work about portmanteaux. Here goes: On the first day of National Poetry Month, I went to a yoga class led by my favorite Shambhava yoga teacher here in Chicago and she [...] by Kathleen Rooney

I have been summoned. I enthusiastically respond. April 4, 2011: HARRIET! Good to see you again, girlfriend. You bring us together. You re-introduce us to our particular music. I've missed and craved you so. If only that sweet-assed Amber T wasn’t such a reticent sort. She really needs to learn to speak up for herself, stop all that infernal mumbling into the back of her hand. That said, Am, now that [...] by Patricia Smith