“Being handed the trophy was almost like an out-of-body experience.” May 5, 2010: Just after 16-year old Amber Rose Johnson (pictured) won the 2010 Poetry Out Loud National Competition in Washington D.C., Kristin Esch tracked her down with some questions.  Johnson will receive a $20,000 award and her high school, Classical High School in Providence, Rhode Island, will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry [...] by Poetry Foundation

Aggression and Community: [exit notes] [snake puke] [discuss] February 10, 2010: 1.  Discuss. 2.  No. 3.  The sentence is a dark alley.  You know what happens in dark alleys. 4.  Something's not right. 5.  Discuss. 6. No. 7.  What kind of person gets to the corridor then stops?  On the verge of research, a question, an interview.  Takes notes on the architecture, the crenallate of red roofs [...] by Bhanu Kapil

Not finished yet June 29, 2009: [caption id="attachment_3877" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Harvey Milk Plaza, San Francisco, 6/28/09 (photo: C. Dungy)"][/caption] The street sweepers have passed, and the crowd control fences have been carried away.  Pride, for some, is over and done.  But for many, the persistent resistance that Pride weekend celebrates still [...] by Camille Dungy

Poetry is making things happen! Installment #2 (Help Him Woo Sarah Silverman) April 13, 2009: Can poetry help this man woo the woman of his dreams (and support at-risk youth in the process)? (more...) by Camille Dungy

Sound makes sense April 9, 2009: Yesterday a student came into my office with a guitar, and he sang me a song.  He did so because he had realized the music could convey more than his words could.  He wanted a boost behind the piece he’d written for our meeting.  I listened to his song (with pleasure: he plays guitar well and has a pleasant voice), but afterwards we talked [...] by Camille Dungy

Feliz Cinco de Mayo & Louder ARTS May 5, 2008: Feliz Cinco de Mayo First let me start with a brief description of this day. Being of Mexican heritage, I’ve had to explain it on a regular basis. So, I thought I’d just give a quick rambling, if only to say: This day is not just about margaritas and tortilla chips (although I find nothing wrong with either of those things and hope to partake [...] by Ada Limón

On the Floor With Kitschy Rumi April 28, 2008: I didn’t have one of those blissed out pregnancies that some women do, but I did love my pre-natal yoga class. Besides the fact that it was good exercise and good relaxation, I got to go be pregnant with a bunch of other pregnant ladies. The first part of the class was spent saying how we felt, so the teacher could gear the class to what ailed [...] by Daisy Fried

Why Actors Stink February 27, 2008: Commenting on my post on Paradise Lost below, Bill Knott wrote "…I used to listen via a walkperson to a tape of the first couple books of PL as read by the British actor Anthony Quayle, but irritatingly he didn’t read the linebreaks which made me usually snatch the earphones out in exasp." Yes, why are actors so often lousy readers of [...] by Daisy Fried

UbuWeb at AWP February 6, 2008: I, too, have returned from AWP, exhausted by the experience. I fear that I have little to report of interest beyond the social gossip that such an occasion usually affords—but in the interest of generating some comments about audio-works of the avant-garde, I am going to include the links to the works on my playlist for the panel entitled [...] by Christian Bök

Girlstory! December 17, 2007: Last Friday I had the privilege of sitting as one of the guest judges at the final round of the All Girl Poetry Slam. Sponsored by Girlstory, a multi-cultural, multi-generational women’s writing collective (and an organization created out a residency at another important arts organization, Community Word Project), this venue is all about [...] by Rigoberto González