In short, [Charles] Bernstein is taking apart the structures of conventional poetry, and more generally of the language we use every day – and which in turn uses us – in order to return us to a more basic relationship with language itself, and with the social relations which language encodes and enforces.
...moreWhat does one do with an essay like the one David Alpaugh penned for the Chronicle of Higher Education on the current state of poetry publication? As an editor who publishes about 50 poems a year here on The Rumpus (all directly solicited), I feel like I have to respond, since I’m contributing to the […]
...moreFirst thing: Chinese poet Lu Xiaobo has been sentenced to eleven years in prison. There isn’t much people can do, but you can register your opinion on this via the PEN American Center website. Mark Scroggins has inspired me to keep better track of how much poetry I read. Not sure if that’s what he […]
...moreCongratulations to Keith Waldrop, winner of the National Book Award in Poetry. Here’s their interview with Waldrop. Mark Scroggins uses the Barrett Watten reading I mentioned last week as a jumping off point for an interesting discussion of, as he puts it, “the relationship of personal formation, as detailed & explored in autobiography, and literary […]
...moreJim Murdoch’s piece on the reader’s responsibility to breathe life into poems is fascinating. At the very least, it’s a good metaphor for people who teach poetry to those who don’t read it much. Here’s a look back–way back–at some really early poetry. C. Dale Young gives you a little taste of Gabrielle Calvocoressi’s new […]
...moreBlogging in the poetry world tends to slow in the summer months in my experience, but we’re not quite there yet, so there’s plenty of bloggy goodness from this week. Here’s a taste. Charles Bernstein asks if art criticism is fifty years behind poetry. Mark Scroggins revels in A. O. Scott’s takedown of “Angels and […]
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