July 7, 2016
Hurry up and Wait: On Waiting and Loneliness
Hurry up and wait is my favorite baseball expression, and it’s one that, of course, doesn’t pertain only to our nation’s pastime. (Something to ponder: Is baseball still considered America’s […]
July 1, 2016
On Passing and Whiteness: Jewish Poets Speak Out
In late 2014, I asked six different poets of various ages and backgrounds questions about Jewish identity and poetry. I had answered some question about poetry and faith on The […]
June 28, 2016
In Bruges
We call them fairy tales because they exist in fantasy, in the revelation of the imaginative. A life is something lived, actively enacted; a tale something told. (From culture to […]
June 16, 2016
Expecting Something Else: an interview with poet A.M. O’Malley
Like all great writers, A.M. O’Malley’s work defies easy categorization. She’s a poet who often writes prose; a memoirist who writes such evocative, lyrical passages that they can only be […]
June 15, 2016
On Watching: Eco-Poetry and Desire in “The Beekeeper’s Daughter”
by Karen Malpede I sit in the back of the theater; that way I can watch the audience watching the play I have written and directed. I can monitor […]
May 29, 2016
Know your state poet laureate: Michael Earl Craig, Montana
I was alerted to the fact that Michael Earl Craig was the current Montana Poet Laureate via a Facebook post by the (great) poet Christopher DeWeese (check out his illuminating […]
May 17, 2016
The Power of Ritual and Routine?
What power does ritual and routine hold in a writer’s life? It obviously depends on the writer. “Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition,” wrote W.H. Auden […]
May 4, 2016
Know Your State Poet Laureate: Tod Marshall, Washington
Have you ever seen the Seinfeld episode involving Elaine’s encounter with The Sidler? If not, do. In brief, one of Elaine’s new co-workers reveals himself to have a habit of […]
May 3, 2016
“Inundation of Texts”: Poets & Writers on Social Media
I think most poets and writers would agree that social media is both a blessing and a curse. While Facebook, Twitter and other social media brings us together across distances […]
April 29, 2016
Zach Savich & Adam Clay: In Conversation
During March 2016, Zach Savich and Adam Clay (a former and current editor at the Kenyon Review, respectively) discussed their new books, The Orchard Green and Every Color (Omnidawn, 2016) and Stranger […]
April 20, 2016
Writing to Write, to Write, to Write?
Just out from Sidebrow Books, every single poem in Mathias Svalina’s new collection, The Wine-Dark Sea, is entitled “The Wine-Dark Sea.” And every single one is great. But “The Wine-Dark Sea” […]
April 12, 2016
An Interview with Novelist Virginia Pye, Part 2
Part 2 of the second interview in a series about the intersections of Writing, Teaching, and Identity Virginia Pye’s second novel, Dreams of the Red Phoenix, was published in October by Unbridled Books. Gish Jen called it, “Gripping, […]