August 23, 2019
It Will Be Empowering: An Interview with David Mura, Author of A Stranger’s Journey; Race, Identity, and Narrative Craft in Writing
This post is the eighth in a months-long series that explores the topic of craft: what it is, how it has evolved, who has historically had access to it, and […]
May 10, 2017
On Why Poem Titles Matter (Part 1 of 2)
I. Names Poems are not people. They resist qualitative judgments based on their actions or potential—it doesn’t matter that a poem is musical. So is music. Perhaps this is why […]
February 6, 2017
On “Chen [No Middle Name] Chen”: Identity in Form
When I first encountered Chen Chen’s poem “Chen [No Middle Name] Chen,” another example of a poet engaged with the anagram as a formal construct (I have considered, in varying […]
July 12, 2016
Identity In Flux: On Jewishness & Poetry
In late 2014, I asked six different poets of various ages and backgrounds questions about Jewish identity and poetry. I had answered some questions about poetry and faith on The Best […]
July 11, 2014
Out of This World: Irene McKinney’s HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH DARKNESS YET? [Part Two of Two]
[This is Part Two. You can read Part One here.] “During the Night” echoes one of McKinney’s earlier poems, “Visiting My Gravesite: Talbott Churchyard, West Virginia”—another poem in which she […]