Category: books
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Rodney Jones in Parnassus.
From Rodney Jones’ poem “On Criticism” in the new issue of Parnassus: Poetry in Review: Without taste, criticism inflates to theory. The technique and not the art. The theology without the religion. The critic fails when he stops thinking of the sweetness.
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Poetry Q & A’s: A Short Take.
Between working until 8pm yesterday and visiting some of Vincent’s friends today, I managed to finish the new issue of Poetry, including the Q & A’s with the poets, and I have to say, they’re not a terribly valuable contribution. By & large, I found the poets’ answers stiff, stilted, super-self-conscious, and boring (though W.S.…
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Reading Recap & Poetry
Oh, the reading last night with Pat & Tim was just great. Tim was so genial & at ease as he read, his commentary spare, the verbal equivalent of white space on the page for me, gave his poems air to breathe. And Pat reads with this little smile on her face, like she can’t…
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Patricia Fargnoli.
When not getting exactly as he wishes, Vincent has taken to plaintively crying, “Honey, please. Please, Honey.” Honey? It’s very unsettling. * Readers continue to discover this blog because of my bout with shingles. Also unsettling. * I was paging through Pat’s newest book of poems, Duties of the Spirit (Tupelo Press, 2005.) wondering which…
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Collected Poets Series.
It’s that time again: Patricia Fargnoli and Tim Mayo will read this Thursday night at Mocha Maya’s Coffee House in Shelburne Falls for the March installment of the Collected Poets Series. Patricia Fargnoli is the current Poet Laureate of New Hampshire and the author of five collections of poetry. Her latest book Duties of the…
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Butterflies & Bulls.
I keep a certain picture of Vincent behind the counter at the bookshop: he’s sitting on the grassy lawn of our old house, studying a daisy in his fingers. Very sweet, yes? Today, Lance took Vincent to the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory & Gardens in Deerfield. It’s large, it’s warm (a nice contrast to the…
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Snow. Falling. Down.
That’s how Vincent speaks, one word, full stop, then the next. And no more than three words in a row. But we understand each other, and that’s a constant revelation: we look at each other in utter astonishment several times every day. So it’s snowing again, very hard, much much snow. It’s been snowing since…
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Graywolf Press
I’m sitting in bed with my new laptop, cat at my feet. Vincent’s asleep, Lance went for a walk — silence but for the ticking clock. Serene winter evening. Let’s hope it doesn’t all go to hell. * In terms of small presses, Graywolf Press is practically a venerable graybeard. It’s been around a while…
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FYI: Soap in mouth=yucky.
Vincent is much calmer this evening, sitting at the table eating his blueberry “ee-gurt” (i.e. yogurt), but last night was an entirely different story. Among another unspeakable acts, he decided to eat a chunk of soap — I guess it looked creamy & delicious to him — but oh, the reaction once it was in…
Marie Gauthier 