I am reading several books at once, I’ll admit: The Wild Iris by Louise Gluck, The Norton Shakespeare (Richard the III currently), The Art of Haiku by Stephen Addiss (as I’ve blogged about before), as well as The World of the Troubadours by Linda M. Paterson (and a mafia romance book, but I won’t get… Continue reading The World of the Troubadours
Tag: books
Musings on “The Art of Haiku” ch. 1
I was mentored by a professor with some very strong opinions about what qualifies as poetry, a classics curmudgeon, his daily tea steeped in Latin. He didn’t consider slam poetry as true poetry. He didn’t consider the lyrics of songs as poetry. I even had difficulty in talking to him about the various poetic traditions… Continue reading Musings on “The Art of Haiku” ch. 1
Emma Trelles’ Tropicalia is very fun (and no, I don’t mean that in a pejorative sense)
I am going to make a false comparison because I can. I recently read Tropicalia, Emma Trelles’ 2010 poetry collection. I also recently read some of Louise Glück’s poetry, not from any one period, but a generalized smattering. Are these two poets vastly different with very different goals and audiences? Yes. Am I going to… Continue reading Emma Trelles’ Tropicalia is very fun (and no, I don’t mean that in a pejorative sense)
Review: Amy Newman’s On This Day in Poetry History Mythologizes Poetry, One Weird Robert Lowell Anecdote At a Time
Some poetry collections are written with me in mind, I’m convinced. I couldn’t imagine a poetry collection more well-suited than Amy Newman’s On This Day in Poetry History to my personal tastes. (Well, maybe one that talked extensively about Lord Byron’s Venetian exploits or Mitt Romney’s imaginary, pizza-fueled demise . . . but that’s why… Continue reading Review: Amy Newman’s On This Day in Poetry History Mythologizes Poetry, One Weird Robert Lowell Anecdote At a Time
Review: Molly McCully Brown’s The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded is a woman’s book—would men like it as much?
Review: Molly McCully Brown’s The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded is a woman’s book—would men like it as much? Poetry teachers across the land say and have said, for generations, that a good poet can make a good poem out of anything—content does not necessarily make or break a poem. But some subject… Continue reading Review: Molly McCully Brown’s The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded is a woman’s book—would men like it as much?
Not for the first time
I’m trying to learn Latin and not for the first time. 7 years ago, I bought a Latin textbook at a used-book store, took it home, and imagined knowing how to read and speak this ancient tongue. At the same time, I took a class on English’s reception of Latin literature, listening to lectures from… Continue reading Not for the first time
A Ghost in the Coffee Shop: A Method for Peer Review
“Are you too deeply Occupied to say if my Verse is alive?” Emily Dickinson wrote with some fervor to the editor of a daily publication. “The Mind is so near itself—it cannot see, distinctly—and I have none to ask—” Writing is best understood as a static text coming into contact with a dynamic mind. When… Continue reading A Ghost in the Coffee Shop: A Method for Peer Review
Of a Writing Process
I tell my students that writing is an art, not a science, that there is no law governing how to write a masterpiece. Whatever works for each as an individual writer should be adhered to. Just how each walks with their chosen stride, there is no need to modify our gait to cohabitate the footprints… Continue reading Of a Writing Process
Over/Poetry 