Mike Schneider: Appreciating Tony Hoagland (1953-2018) — Notes on “America”
From Tony Hoagland’s third book, What Narcissism Means to Me, his poem “America” flaps the self-loving flag of his marvelously ironical title. As Tony explained in a 2003 interview with Miriam Sagan, … Continue reading
Mike Schneider: Notes from the Palm Beach Poetry Festival
Blackface is in the news and — should anyone be interested in the details — instructions on “How to Black Up,” complete with recipe for burnt-cork face-paint can be found in Olio, Tyehimba Jess’ book that won the 2017 Pultizer Prize for poetry.
Mike Schneider: The Wages of Fracking
Amity and Prosperity, One Family and the Fracturing of America, by Eliza Griswold (Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 2018). An accomplished, award-winning poet, Eliza Griswold also writes for The New … Continue reading
Michael Simms: An Appreciation of the Poetry of Robert Gibb
Robert Gibb is a poet’s poet. By that phrase I mean that he’s widely admired among poets across the country, but virtually unknown to the public. He’s published a dozen … Continue reading
Video: Bill Moyers Journal — A Life Together, Jane Kenyon and Donald Hall
First aired in 1993, this classic program profiles Donald Hall and Jane Kenyon, two celebrated American literary figures. Kenyon, who died in 1995, was an award-winning poet and translator; Hall is the author of more than a dozen books of poetry and was named U.S. Poet Laureate in 2006.
Michael Simms: The Very American Poetry of Jose Padua
What are poets for in destitute times? — Hölderlin . Every poem is a subversive act. In an age when our senses are benumbed by competing media screaming for our … Continue reading
Michael Simms: A Few of my Favorite Jailbirds
But I’m Starting a New Life: A Words without Walls Anthology, Anthony Ciotoli (ed.) Chatham University, Pittsburgh, 2015 Many important writers and poets have spent time in jail or prison, … Continue reading
