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

the buddhist April 26, 2011: A year ago when I was writing for Harriet during National Poetry Month, I blogged about a reading given at White Columns here in New York City by Tim Griffin, Kevin Killian, and Dodie Bellamy. In my post I described Bellamy as “among the most significant underrecognized and underappreciated writers working today.” These things are relative, of [...] by Alan Gilbert

Time, for Patricia Smith April 18, 2011: I asked my timely versus timeless question and the wonderful, generous, talented Patricia Smith wrote back. “Timelessness is woefully overrated. Timeless poems should be appropriately noted, revered, analyzed, celebrated and tucked back into their slots on a seldom dusted bookshelf in clear view of the six or seven people who read them [...] by Rachel Zucker

Menopause Party April 18, 2011: I think of poems as made by doing as well as not doing as well as by who you do them around. I went to one of the most amazing readings a few weeks back and it was organized by Nathaniel Siegel and it was held at the gay community center in New York. I had been to this event before. It was in a little cubbyhole of the second floor of the center [...] by Eileen Myles

introductions at poetry readings April 16, 2011: Tonight, I am introducing D.A. Powell at the Sarah Lawrence Poetry Festival. Since I am blogging, I will share what I came up with. For the record, I am a big admirer of Doug's work, so praise came easy. I would love to see a fellow blogger talk about the challenges of introducing a writer at a reading whose work you don't connect with, or even to [...] by Jeffrey McDaniel

I’m a poet. I need my mouth. April 10, 2011: I've been faced with many, many searing questions during the course of my lifetime, beginning with that pesky poser that kept me up nights as a toddler: What would REALLY happen if those string beans touched those mashed potatoes? As I matured (somewhat), the swirling questions grew more insistent and complex. Can you really burn a pimple off [...] by Patricia Smith

How Not To Return Home From An Out-of-town Poetry Reading April 5, 2011: Get up at 8:30 a.m. in Tucson. My host, Matthew Conley, swings me by the Poetry Center at the University of Arizona. A remarkable place: an entire building dedicated to poetry, with a library, archives, classrooms, a performance space, even an apartment where visiting poets can sleep. Arrive at Tucson Airport an hour before my 11:55 a.m. flight [...] by Jeffrey McDaniel

Mary Karr lunches with Studs Terkel March 29, 2011: Mary Karr reads on Tuesday, April 5 at the Art Institute of Chicago's Rubloff Auditorium. She took a few minutes to talk about what she's reading, what she's read, and who she'd quote: What line or poem do you find yourself sharing again and again? Too many to count. My message to young writers always comes from Beckett: "Fail [...] by Poetry Foundation

Reading Liu Xiaobo in South Africa March 24, 2011: BOOK Southern Africa has posted videos from a reading last week organized by South African PEN and Poetry International Web South Africa. Part of a protest reading that took place in 33 countries around the world, South African writers shared their own prison writing alongside English and Afrikaans translations of Liu's "Charter 08" and "You [...] by Poetry News

Writer & gang interventionist Luis J. Rodriguez March 15, 2011: Luis J. Rodriguez is a poet, memoirist, and a founder of Chicago's Guild Complex, among other organizations. He's also a community activist who works to keep kids out of gangs. Rodriguez reads next Wednesday, March 16, at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. Below, he takes the time to answer a few questions for us. What line or poem do you find [...] by Poetry Foundation