Monthly Archive:: May 2012
Small Press Spotlight: Canarium Books
As I said in my previous blog post about the most intriguing small presses publishing poetry, I really think small presses are publishing some of the really interesting poetry out there right now. I had the good fortune of speaking with Joshua Edwards, the editor of Canarium Books. He
Blurbese: “a _____ debut”
Book reviewers generally frown on unnecessary adjectives. Precisely how they frown depends on the situation, but you can bet if an author’s use of adjectives comes up in a review it’s not as a compliment. If a book is filled with rare and unusual descriptions (e.g. “a perturbing peccadillo”),
The Writing Life: Five Things My Third-Grader Taught Me
1. Writing is fun. In one of my favorite films, Chariots of Fire, Harold Abrahams explains his motivation for running: I will raise my eyes and look down that corridor; four feet wide, with ten lonely seconds to justify my whole existence. The film goes on, of course, to
Five for Eduardo C. Corral
I first read Eduardo C. Corral’s poems in Poetry and was knocked out by them. I then found out that Carl Phillips had chosen Eduardo’s first book “Slow Lightning” as his inaugural choice as judge for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize (the first Latino poet to ever
Hearing Voices: Women Versing Life presents: Deborah Clearman
“You can say anything with kindness” is the oft-repeated phrase of most professors in writing workshops. It’s a reminder, of course, to speak the truth in our criticism of each other’s work, but to speak it gently. It’s one way to make the workshop environment feel safe and comfortable.
Birds of a Lesser Paradise
Birds of a Lesser Paradise Megan Mayhew Bergman Scribner, March 2012 $24.00 240 pages In the twelve stories in Megan Mayhew Bergman’s debut collection, the past is always present. Children live in the failing light of dying parents. Lovers make their beds on inherited sheets. The furniture in a
Poetry, Hip Hop, and Academia: A Discussion with Camille Rankine, Patrick Rosal, and Tracy K. Smith
Move with the crowds underground to take the A train uptown on a quintessential Manhattan evening in late April, the clouds having opened up the sky to all those glorious industrial gases from across the Hudson that can turn the western horizon an ink wash of pastels. Step onto
The Best Way To See
In distance running circles, we talk about the “shelf life” of our legs. The hips, knees, ankles, and feet can sustain only so much wear and tear before they start to give out. What does impending expiration look like? One day I run a solid 8-miler; the next day
Literary Boroughs #1: Asilah, Morocco
The Literary Boroughs series will explore little-known and well-known literary communities across the country and world and show that while literary culture can exist online without regard to geographic location, it also continues to thrive locally. The series will run on our blog from May 2012 until AWP13 in Boston. Please enjoy
Hearing Voices: Women Versing Life presents Phillis Wheatley
Now you’re on an auction block, struggling to stand, naked except for a scrap of blanket wrapped around your shoulders. You watch as money exchanges hands and realize that you are owned now, someone’s belonging. These new people call you Phillis, again and again, as if the name your