As if I don't already have enough on my plate, I've started this, titled "Helen Webster's Diary." Helen Webster is, I believe, a great grandmother of mine, who was a teenager in the 1890s. Beyond that, I know nothing. My grandmother's sister (great-aunt? I can never keep these things straight) found this diary probably ten … Continue reading So, new project
Review at Rattle
Back in the old times, before I was the poetry editor at The Rumpus (what do you mean it's only been a month?), I wrote a review of Carole Simmons Oles' book Waking Stone for Rattle Magazine. Here's a taste:Waking Stone by Carole Simmons Oles, published by the University of Arkansas Press, doesn’t have any … Continue reading Review at Rattle
Happy Belated Birthday, Mr. Stegner
Timothy Egan notes in the NY Times that yesterday was Wallace Stegner's 100th birthday. I must confess that I learned more about Stegner in that column than I did in the two years I held a fellowship he helped found and which carried his name, so let me make up for it by thanking his … Continue reading Happy Belated Birthday, Mr. Stegner
Shameless self promotion
The official awards page is up for the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg prizes, and I'm on the list. It's a poem that grew out of my visit to see my daughter graduate from high school last year, so that makes it feel a little more special.Congrats to everyone who won, particularly to my personal friends Alison … Continue reading Shameless self promotion
Rumpus Time
My review of Dan Albergotti's The Boatloads just went up at The Rumpus. Here's a taste:I have a special place in my heart for literature that juxtaposes the sacred and profane, that challenges perhaps the most successful meme ever to spring from the human brain: the belief that God is unwaveringly good.That’s the matter at … Continue reading Rumpus Time
New Piece up at The Rumpus
I've had my ass handed to me so many times when I write about poetry that I'm a little gun-shy, but for some unknown reason, I've written a piece about Elizabeth Alexander's "Praise Song for the Day" over at The Rumpus. Here's a taste.As a poet, I appreciate the gesture made toward the arts when … Continue reading New Piece up at The Rumpus
I love Julia Alvarez
I've liked her poetry for a long while, but I especially love what she's done with the AP's request for an inaugural poem. I've written before about my problems with Frost's poem for Kennedy, and it shouldn't be a surprise that I wasn't alone. Alvarez voiced many of the same reservations, though in a far … Continue reading I love Julia Alvarez
W. D. Snodgrass, 1926-2009
W. D. Snodgrass died yesterday at his home in upstate New York. I can't say I know a lot of his work. I've only taught a poem or two of his in the past, but I can say that I recognize a bit of myself in his poem "April Inventory". I'm a bit older than … Continue reading W. D. Snodgrass, 1926-2009
Poetic Lives Online: Random Poetry Links
The following is a new feature I'll be doing every week for The Rumpus. I'll be cross-posting them here in the hopes that I might actually do some po-blogging of my own, instead of focusing so much on Incertus. Thanks to Stephen Elliott for giving me the shot.With the inauguration of Barack Obama swiftly approaching … Continue reading Poetic Lives Online: Random Poetry Links
Breaking radio silence
Two new publications to mention. My first ever accepted prose poem, "Pastoral," was taken by Quarterly West, and will appear next year, and I also had an acceptance from Center, a poem titled "Sedimentary." If they're available online, I'll be sure to post links to them. And now that both the semester and the election … Continue reading Breaking radio silence
Another Poem to Love 