June 3, 2019
The Doodles of Famous Authors
I’m not shy about my love of words, letters, and even whole sentences. So imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon a truly impressive feat of cultural curation over at […]
June 8, 2018
The Quest for the Enchanted Writing Tip
Many writers spend their whole careers chasing that enchanted writing tip that will make them extraordinary, and there’s certainly no shortage of craft advice. Some authors (I’m looking at you, […]
January 15, 2017
An Open Letter from the Only Poet on the Professor Watchlist
Dear Charlie Kirk, Founder of Turning Point USA: It’s not every day that an American poet can address someone who thinks he is dangerous. For that alone I should thank […]
May 10, 2016
Trump, Galumphing
So it’s finally come to pass: Someone as qualified to be president as I am (and I’m not at all qualified) will represent a major American political party in November’s […]
May 5, 2016
Why I’m Still Not Convinced that Meter is Physiological
I sparked a small feud last month when I wrote in this blog that “Iambic Pentameter Has Nothing to Do with Your Heart.” My essay took issue with a “pulse […]
December 16, 2014
Patterns of Poetic Revolution
One of the most famous lines in English poetry about poetry is Moore’s “I, too, dislike it.” The interesting thing is just how much the best poets, historically, have […]
September 7, 2013
Banga! Banga! Banga!
Patti Smith plays tonight at Detroit’s Majestic Theatre. I’ll be there, touching base with my three-decades-ago self, that self that used to sing along (badly) to cassette tapes of Horses […]
July 6, 2013
“Deeply and Irreverently”: How and What to Read
One of the usual defenses of reading widely in the Western tradition (or, say, in 20th century poetry) is that it improves your writing—that it’s the legwork necessary for the […]
February 28, 2012
Of ideogrammar
Just the other day a professor and mentor of mine gave me a copy of Volume III of the late Larry Eigner’s recently-released Collected Poems. What demarcates this collection most […]