Category: books
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University Press Round-up 1.
I have another sales rep meeting before the textbook rush begins, and so have been flipping through various university press catalogs. Some highlights: Texas Tech UP Wild Flight, by Christine Rhein, Winner of the Walt McDonald First-Book Competition in Poetry. March. Hardcover, $21.50. I think printing in hardcover only is a mistake. Too bad, because…
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No New York Times for You!
It was one of those odd days when there was not a single New York Times to be found in Western Massachusetts. The Friday crossword puzzle is too difficult for me; we just figure out a clue or two and declare victory. But the Friday edition always has a nice fat arts section, so we’re…
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Commonplace 2.
“The Highwayman,” by Alfred Noyes is another poem I copied by hand into a commonplace book. That took a while. But there’s something about handwriting a poem, especially a long poem, that really drives the rhythm of it home, makes it indelible, makes it yours. And oh, this poem, the way it builds, and I…
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Commonplace journals.
Back in the days I was a student, before the internet took hold & you could find almost any poem in the canon you wanted & print it out, I used to keep commonplace books, blank journals in which I wrote by hand the poems I loved and wanted to keep. I was an English…
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Poet’s Bookshelf.
I’ve been dipping into Poet’s Bookshelf (edited by Peter Davis and published by Barnwood Press), and I found this from Henri Cole: The two biggest influences on my work are sleeping and reading. I wish I could do them simultaneously. They make the little hamster of the unconscious run wild on its wheel. Amen to…
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Birthing a poem.
A friend of mine is close to term with her first child, and, right on schedule, that means she’s beginning to worry about the birth. To stoke the fires, here’s a poem from Julianna Baggott’s newest collection of poems, Compulsions of Silkworms & Bees. If you haven’t read her before, get this book, it’s fantastic.…
Marie Gauthier 