November 9, 2015
Pt 2 – A Conversation with Mike Rose
The first interview in a series of conversations with writer-educators on the intersections between writing, teaching, and identity PART 2 OF 2 (Click here to read Pt 1) Mike Rose […]
November 4, 2015
The Principle of Inversion
If you look from a distance at our media talking about traditional religions, you find that “Hinduism” is reduced to the caste system and Hindu nationalism, “Islam” to fundamentalist or […]
November 3, 2015
An interview with Jeff Jackson, author of Mira Corpora
Darragh McKeon is the author of All That is Solid Melts Into Air. This is an interview he conducted with author Jeff Jackson about his debut novel Mira Corpora, published […]
November 2, 2015
A Conversation with Mike Rose – PT I
The first interview in a series about the intersections of writing, teaching, & identity Mike Rose is the son of working class Italian-immigrant parents who settled in South Los Angeles in […]
October 14, 2015
Elitism and American Poetry
The question of “the audience of poetry” is one that vexes poets and critics endlessly in our country. There are, on this as on so many other issues, two camps, […]
September 10, 2015
By Any Other Name: The Best American Pseudonym 2015
Not too long ago, a writer wrote a children’s fantasy book. It was rejected quite a few times, but eventually a publisher took interest. The writer’s name was Joanne, and […]
July 31, 2015
Not an Elegy for The University of Akron Press
We are still writing and revising the fate of The University of Akron Press. I say “we,” since the voices that matter to me are the voices of the poets, editors, […]
July 30, 2015
The Invented Antagonism
The hallmark of a 19th or 20th century (or 21st century) debate about religion is a focus on origins. This began with Darwin’s The Origin of Species, in relation to […]
July 28, 2015
Poetry and Play (Part II): An Exegesis Mashup
OFTEN I AM PERMITTED TO RETURN TO A MEADOW / HOMO LUDENS as if it were a scene made-up by the mind, that is not mine, but is a […]
May 31, 2015
Making (and [the Next]) Generation Part II: Educator Interview with Adam Kaplan
My previous post began a series of posts focusing on teaching, writing, and youth. The new anthology Please Excuse This Poem is the catalyst for this investigation, and I shared poems and reflections from […]
May 26, 2015
Soundings: Poetry and Process
Sounding: the action or process of measuring the depth of the sea or other body of water. Sounding: information or evidence ascertained as a preliminary step before deciding on a […]
January 15, 2015
Catching Up on Bestsellers
As a kid, I never read novels, graphic or otherwise. My brother read comic books, choose-your-adventure stories, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, an assortment of Afrocentric tomes from Black Arts Plus, down […]