Line tamer.
Clearly a labor of love for Alice Quinn. I found her copious endnotes far more pleasurable than the fragments and abandoned poems. Remind me to destroy my fragments folder before I die. My favorite quotes: “Translating poetry is like trying to put your feet into gloves.” “…the situation of the poet: the difficulty of combining Read More …
I was cleaning and reorganizing my poetry shelves and every time I see this cover I just have to sit and admire it for many moments. I read a draft of the manuscript the year it won the NPS and it turned into a beautiful book. It’s a fabulous feeling, to see the raw poems Read More …
I picked this up in 2006 after I found out Kay Ryan was the judge for the Walt Whitman Award, just to see if there was any chance her aesthetic might match mine (The Erotic Postulate was shortlisted for the award, so you start to wonder what your chances are when you’re so close: one Read More …
So I joined yet another social site. I think this one is forgivable as it focuses solely on books and gives me a better space to organize my library, plus many of my grad school friends from Michigan are on it, so it’s been a nice way to reconnect with that former community of writers. Read More …
I’ve been thinking a lot about sequences lately, those who do them well, my penchant for writing a series or in groupings, as if to truly explore an idea I must sustain that energy over multiple attempts, approaching a topic or idea or obsession from multiple angles, exploring as many facets as possible. This is Read More …
So last night Katy Lederer hosted a little book party at her place to celebrate the publication of three books. As usual, it was an interesting mix of people from work and people from the literary community (and even those categories often cross). Actually, “mix” may not be the right word as the writers were Read More …
A brief break from the Jamaica postings to tell you about an important portrait exhibit at the International Center of Photography. The exhibit is called “Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits” curated by Deborah Willis. The ICP is located at 1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street here in New York. And Read More …
Just a quick note from Jamaica. I was checking my email and discovered a message from my colleagues at Muhlenberg College informing me the poet Len Roberts passed away this past Thursday night. Len was one of the first poets to mentor me and I can safely say he was probably one of the best Read More …
Just a note to say my long poem Platos de Sal was a runner-up in the Frank O’Hara Award Chapbook Competition this year. Last year I came in Fourth forPear Slip and the year before I was a Semifinalist for Narcissus Resists. But next year the contest will be going away (only for a year, though) as Read More …
Just wanted to post a piece that originally appeard in the June 25, 2006 edition of The Observer, called “Arbitragedy: A Hedge-Fund Poet’s Bittersweet Ballad” written by my colleague Regan Good.