Best American Poetry
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Cheaters Sometimes Win
While the poetry world continues to grapple with the Best American Poetry controversy, perhaps its worth considering why anyone would try to game the system. Theodore Ross over at The New Republic explains how cheating is one of the best…
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White Jealousy
The new Best American Poetry anthology, edited by Sherman Alexie, contains a poem by the very white Michael Derrick Hudson who used the pen-name Yi-Fen Chou to get his poem into publication. Now, Asian American poets are pushing to get readers…
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Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, in the Saturday Essay, Melissa Carroll praises the “refreshing” film, The Diary of a Teenage Girl. But despite the wonderful story, great acting, and a great soundtrack, something about the movie falls short, Carroll argues. Some aspects of the adaptation are…
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An Open Letter to Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Dear Aimee, So the latest thing (why is there always a latest thing) is that a white man used a Chinese name to submit poems that were then chosen for Prairie Schooner and then included in Best American Poetry 2015 which of course has a lovely…
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Yellowface in Poetry
There’s a storm in the poetry world, this one set off by the bio in Best American Poetry 2015 of Michael Derrick Hudson, who has been publishing under the name Yi-Fen Chou. I’m not here to talk about the poem, or…
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“The Year I Didn’t Kill Myself”
Why did my mother kill herself and I didn’t that year and have not?…I ask myself at the farmer’s market when David shows me the black radishes that I use in risotto or when Sarah takes me to the ranch…
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Poetic Lives Online: Links by Brian Spears
A tale of a poetry reading, or maybe the word “cock” is inherently funny. Annie Finch tells you everything you need to know about the sonnet. Who was in Best American Poetry 2009? The answer probably won’t surprise you. W.…
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The MFA Rankings Wars
Last week in my Poetic Lives Online column, I wrote a little about the immediate reaction to the Poets & Writers MFA program rankings. Well, it’s blown up a bit more in the last week, with the Association of Writing…