poem >< poet : a talk with Sharon Mesmer April 13, 2012: Sharon Mesmer wrote a poem called "This Poem" which is now posted on her blog, Dubious Labia. Last week she emailed it to the Flarf list, which I'm on...as a quotidient fly on the wall. I was struck by its reach to the point where I wanted to investigate how much of its immediacy and action I could hold onto, if I rewrote it in the spirit of [...] by Edwin Torres

JOAN PHONE April 12, 2012: There’s no information in a phone like this. I’m talking about the “stupid” phone I hold in my hand. You can’t just sit there reading your texts. And that’s all there is. I mean besides talking. I’m luxuriating in the slightly nose cold but ankles exposed sun of the dog run April 5th. My dogs today are barely interested in playing. [...] by Eileen Myles

Filipina Domesticity: Wife Poetry April 12, 2012: Domesticity is one of those "topics" that make me hostile. To be specific, the expectation that as women we relish (and languish) without resistance in domesticity is what makes me hostile. Certainly, a big part of my hostility has to do with what I previously blogged, about women not having access to a world other than the domestic world, about [...] by Barbara Jane Reyes

Real/Haiku April 12, 2012: About 15 years ago, when I first heard a North American Haiku Conference was being held in nearby Evanston, I naively pictured something like Comic-Con—you know:  people in space helmets, jet packs, antennae—that sort of thing.  I went, but mostly as a fascinated spectator: Levi-Strauss among the “natives,” an emissary from the [...] by John S. O'Connor

names against the land April 11, 2012: Thursday I flew into, and yesterday I flew out of, the Washington, D.C. transit hub formerly known as Washington National Airport, now designated by act of Congress as Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Not for the first time, I was perfectly satisfied with the airport but slightly angry about the name, not just because it still feels like [...] by Stephen Burt

But a Storm is Blowing from Paradise April 9, 2012: Returning to an old tradition and making good use of Harriet to spread the word about poetry books, I wanted to give a shout out to Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, whose debut collection has recently been released through Red Hen Press. But a Storm is Blowing from Paradise signals disruption, interruption, discord and, on a more empowering note, [...] by Rigoberto González

Teach Me How to End, Please April 5, 2012: How do you take yourself out of your language so poetry can talk to all parts of yourself? "Welcome to Harriet," says trauma teaching poet. Hello folks, glad to join the community again, and just in time to be considered the first week of OUR month. Though this annual rite does a bang-up job of reminding me how out of touch I am…it lights a fire [...] by Edwin Torres

Thank you. I’m trying to pay you back. April 4, 2012: I'm thinking of Martin Luther King, Jr. today, on the 44th anniversary of his assassination. I am thinking of the hard work and ultimate sacrifice he made. I am thinking of the hard work and sacrifice so many good people have made for people they would never know. Thank you. I honor you. Today and every day I work to honor you with poetry. I [...] by Camille Dungy

Memories and Thoughts on Adrienne Rich April 3, 2012: I was nervous about our lunch. I might have even dreaded it since I was afraid that I would somehow disappoint her (she chose my book for the Barnard Women Poets Prize and said she’d like to meet me). The Warwick Hotel possessed a vintage charm amid all the midtown chain hotels. It was where she always stayed when she came to New York, where [...] by Cathy Park Hong

Pinay Poetry April 3, 2012: Hello again Harriet, what up? I'm glad to be back at the Poetry Foundation for this here National Poetry Month. Let me reintroduce myself. Barbara Jane Reyes here, Oakland-based poet. Among other places, I've been teaching Philippine and Filipino American Literature in the Philippine Studies Program at University of San Francisco. One day, I'd [...] by Barbara Jane Reyes