poetry
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Charms Against Lightning by James Arthur
The debut collection of poetry might just deserve its own taxon in the categorizing of literary contributions. One can almost picture beneath the heading of ‘Debuts’ a series of subheadings such as ‘Showed Great Promise Only at First,’ ‘Terrible Poetry…
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“Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations” by David Ferry
David Ferry’s Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations is a necessary book. I was sad when I finished it, and hungry to return and re-read. Still, the phrase “poems and translations” seems unfortunate. In Bewilderment, the two genres – the writing…
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David Biespiel’s Poetry Wire: The Poetry Wars
One of the more mind-blowing get-togethers to take place in the last ten years occurred in Havana, Cuba, when Fidel Castro led a unique international conference that brought together participants in the Cuban missile crisis from the U.S., the former…
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“Bender: New and Selected Poems” by Dean Young
I would be in trouble if I had to choose a favorite Dean Young poem. I remember when I stood in a bookstore reading Elegy on Toy Piano, before I knew or cared anything about contemporary poetry, and I remember…
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David Biespiel’s Poetry Wire: What Is Lyric Poetry?
I know, just by titling this piece — “What Is Lyric Poetry?” — you’re thinking, no, you’re not. You’re not. You’re not going to do this. Yup. Doing it. Sort of. What follows is less “What Is Lyric Poetry?” and…
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“My Poets” by Maureen McLane
Maureen McLane has published two daring, original collections of poetry, and a book called Balladeering, Minstrelsy, and the Making of British Romantic Poetry, from Cambridge University Press. Balladeering, with sometimes sluggish, academic prose, is worth effort for anyone wishing greater…
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Barbara Berman’s Holiday Shopping Guide
Barbara Berman is a long time Rumpus reviewer. Here she offers her recommendations for books to give during this holiday season and beyond. Years ago I decided to do as much holiday shopping as possible at independent book stores and…
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Sleep Song, The Poetic Epilogue to War, Cancelled
Sleep Song, the third installment of Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd’s poetic performances that showcase stories about soldiers of color in wars, had its Harlem Stage show cancelled because its Iraqi performers were denied visas. At Colorlines, Seth Freed Wessler…
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“The Lamp With Wings” by M. A. Vizsolyi
Love puts a lot of pressure on people to do things with each other. There are a lot of conditions to saying “I love you.” You have to act love out in the world, and it’s a big world, especially…
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David Biespiel’s Poetry Wire: Bruce Lee’s Advice to Poets
Who isn’t a devotee of advice from writers about writing? One of my favorite books in this guilty-pleasure genre to come out lately is Dennis O’Driscoll’s collection of witticisms and one-liners, Quote Poet Unquote: Contemporary Quotations on Poets and Poetry.…
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“Book of Dog” by Cleopatra Mathis
The domesticated dog, evolved 15,000 years ago from gray wolves, is not a reliquary of slavish dependence in Book of Dog, Cleopatra Mathis’ seventh collection, nor is it a token of the bourgeois middle-class’s presumed benignity. It is as necessary…
