Brian

March 6, 2008 Brian summer reading list, teaching poetry

Summer reading list

Yeah, I know--it feels like summer outside down here in south Florida, but we're still weeks and weeks away from it. Nonetheless, I have to provide our book purchasing system a list of texts for my class this summer. I've been given a terrific opportunity this summer--a 4000 level Modern Poetry class. It's only six … Continue reading Summer reading list

March 3, 2008 Brian Robert Herrick, teaching poetry

Sex in Poetry

I'm always amused by how younger generations are convinced that the poetry of the past was stolid and conservative, that the people of 400 years ago certainly would never have mentioned sex, and if it did, with only the mildest euphemisms. One of my first-day-of-class activities every semester is to give my students a handout … Continue reading Sex in Poetry

February 29, 2008 Brian Sonnet to Sausage, writing exercises gone bad

What happens with a writing exercise gone wrong

So I'm rooting though piles of old files (figuratively--I was searching through folders that somehow got moved onto this computer) and I come across this gem of a poem. It was written as part of a challenge in my second semester Form and Theory class. We had to write a poem about a subject we … Continue reading What happens with a writing exercise gone wrong

February 27, 2008 Brian Problems with Hurricanes, Victor Hernandez Cruz

"Problems with Hurricanes"

Anyone who lives in a hurricane area knows the dangers from wind and rain, but Victor Hernandez Cruz points to the real dangers. The campesino who speaks in his poem says "it's the mangoes, avocados / Green plaintains and bananas / Flying into town like projectiles" that are the real danger, because there's more than … Continue reading "Problems with Hurricanes"

February 25, 2008 Brian Linebreak, University of Arkansas

An interesting new journal

I am ambivalent, at best, about my graduate school experience. Fayetteville, Arkansas isn't the hippest place in the world to spend four years, after all. But Amy turned me onto a new project that some of the grad students there have put together. It's called Linebreak, and it's a format I haven't seen before. They … Continue reading An interesting new journal

February 23, 2008 Brian shameless self promotion, storySouth, US Route 50

Speaking of poetry

Guess it's time I start the shameless self-promotion. I have a poem up in the newest issue of storySouth, titled "US Route 50." It's part of a series of poems I've been writing off and on over the last couple of years that deal with unique roads I've traveled in this country. It's not really … Continue reading Speaking of poetry

February 23, 2008 Brian Brian Spears, Incertus, poetry

A New Poetic Home on the Web

I couldn't pass it up. I was hoping to add some different functionality to my main blog, so I set one up to test on, and the name was available. What was I supposed to do?When I started Incertus four years ago, I was planning on making it a blog that dealt with politics and … Continue reading A New Poetic Home on the Web