Michael Davidson’s Foreword to Robert Duncan: The Ambassador from Venus September 25, 2012: Many thanks to Poetry Daily for posting Michael Davidson's foreword to Lisa Jarnot's much anticipated biography of Robert Duncan. Here's a taste of the first paragraph—be sure to jump over and check out the rest! Robert Duncan's life offers a particular challenge for the biographer. He was a widely respected, if determinedly [...] by Harriet Staff

Jarnot’s Duncan Reviewed at SFGate August 28, 2012: At SFGate, Seth Lerer offers a review of Lisa Jarnot's Robert Duncan: The Ambassador from Venus. Lerer reminds us that, "This book offers not only the story of a writer but a definition of a city's poetics." He goes on: Of course, not everyone who lived and wrote in San Francisco in the 1950s and 1960s held identical points of view and [...] by Harriet Staff

Fugitives, works in progress, young Duncan, and Marianne Moore May 31, 2012: Our popular annual translation and Q&A issues are part of a long tradition of special issues that have focused on such subjects as the Objectivists (edited by Louis Zukovsky), Chinese poetry, and post-war Italian poetry. This month we’d like to draw attention to two issues in particular: the May 1932 and April-May 1965. Poetry's May 1932 [...] by Lindsay Garbutt

Stan Persky Reviews Eminent Outlaws at LARB May 17, 2012: Stan Persky reviews Christopher Bram's Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America at the Los Angeles Review of Books. Persky begins the review by focusing on Bram's "bold declaration that 'the gay revolution began as a literary revolution,'": A revolution sparked by mere words? After all, as gay poet W.H. Auden put it, "Poetry [...] by Harriet Staff

Lisa Jarnot’s Duncan Biography Due Out in May February 16, 2012: We've just heard word that Lisa Jarnot's biography of Robert Duncan is due out in May. Some of us at Harriet have been waiting since our early twenties for this to be published (we know, that doesn't tell you much). Let's just say it's very, very exciting. From the UC Press website, here's a bit about The Ambassador from Venus: A [...] by Harriet Staff

Poetry in 1960 Live from the Future! December 6, 2010: Kelly Writers House at University of Pennsylvania will be streaming their symposium "Poetry in 1960" live at 6pm EST tonight, Monday, December 6th. Hosted by Writers House faculty director Al Filreis, the symposium invites eleven poets to each contribute a critical essay on a poem or collection to mark its 50th anniversary. This will most likely [...] by Harriet Staff

Beyond Careerism? (Redistributing Poetic Effort) March 12, 2010: This past week at Poetry Foundation Jim Behrle published a talk he'd given at St. Mark's Poetry Project last month (and which apparently first appeared at one of his blogs some time back) called "24/7 Relentless Careerism." Behrle's talk is a hilarious rant against the career motives and moves of contemporary poets. One would have to have a heart [...] by Thom Donovan

Desiring Criticism January 15, 2010: I have noticed a lot of interest in criticism—what criticism is, how it should function—at Harriet/Poetry Foundation. And especially interest in the function of ‘negative’ criticism. Throughout the past couple years I have had a few different answers to the question of what criticism does. Or rather, what it can do. Criticism, not unlike [...] by Thom Donovan