Poem in you pocket day was Thursday! We totally missed it. I feel terrible about this! Did anyone carry a poem around in his or her pocket? Share in the comments.
Be sure to also check out New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, who wrote an original verse (meant to be taken completely seriously, I am certain) for New York's poem in your pocket day. The gauntlet has been thrown down, Los Angeles.
In case any of you are looking for someplace to spend happy hour tonight, friend of the blog Levi Asher will be hosting a poetry reading--just a normal one, NOT for national poetry month, I've been assured--at the Bowery Poetry Club tonight. Rumor has it that a future FSG author will be appearing alongside Levi, as will Tao Lin, so you probably don't want to miss it.
Details: Tonight, April 17th, from 6:30-7:30 PM.
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery Street
(Between Houston and Bleecker)
F train to 2nd Ave, 6 to Bleecker
Also, Levi has promised (threatened?) bongo drums. My representation of what that will probably look like after the jump.
Continue reading "Definitely Not A National Poetry Month Event" »
Finally, the last words from the catalog:
"We look forward to seeing you next year, when we mount the Poets House Showcase for the first time in our new and permanent home in Battery Park City."
This exhibit will be open from April 12-19 at @ NYPL Jefferson Market Branch
425 Sixth Avenue (at West 10th Street)
For library hours, call (212) 243-4334
Admission free
Don't tell anyone at FSG, but this chapbook really charmed me with the cover.
I appreciate that this might sound especially nerdy, but I had a great time on Saturday afternoon checking out the 2008 Poet's House Showcase. (Yes, there was wine.)
As a visual representation of how significant poetry is to the publishing world, it's quite powerful--there are shelves filled with books, from big publishing houses on down to small publishers who only put out a book or two a year.
In the exhibit catalog, which is 63 double-sided pages, show coordinator Michael Romanos says:
"Of all the 2,128 titles documented at press time, 1,666 titles were published in 2007 and 462 in the first few months of 2008. Included in the exhibit are 566 chapbooks, 340 university titles, 150 anthologies, 24 multimedia works, and 176 poetry-related works of prose (biographies, critical studies, essay collections, and memoirs). There are also 96 works of translation, 48 of which appear in multi-lingual format."
I've got a bunch of pictures for you, appearing in the next few posts.
I have big plans this weekend, readers, big plans. Since I spent the last Friday and Saturday night completely incapacitated with a nasty allergy, I have a lot of catching up to do with friends (including a Sunday reading at the KGB Bar by friend of the blog Bud Parr), I still haven't been to the new bistro that opened up in my neighborhood, and I understand there's a new episode of 30 Rock just waiting for me on a friend's Tivo.
In case you are similarly inspired, this weekend or beyond, to be out and about in the world, here's a few of the more exciting poetry events coming your way in the next few weeks.
And as always, if you know of a cool event that you don't see listed below, please feel free to leave it in the comments below or email it to me.
I just wanted to point you all to a few great roundups of our event--with Knopf, WQXR, and The Strand, on Monday--at Cruelest Month, Lit Kicks, and Galleycat.
And a reminder that Eliza Griswold and Paul Muldoon appeared on the blog earlier this month, and you can listen to and download their poetry from earlier posts.
It was lovely to see so many of you out last night at our literary battle of the heavyweights! The Quickmuse event was a lot of fun--thanks to everyone who braved the rain to see Eliza Griswold, Paul Muldoon, and Brad Leithauser.
But if you weren't able to make it out to The Strand, Quickmuse has you covered. For the competition, both Paul and Brad were asked to write a poem in response to this piece by Alicia Ostriker:
The Blessing of the Dog
to be blessed
said the dog
is to have a pinch
of God
inside you
and all the other dogs
can smell it
You can play Paul's piece here--just click on the 'Play Back the Piece' function, and you'll be able to watch the poem appear as Paul wrote it (be sure to keep an eye on the first letter of each line). The same goes for Brad--his poem is here.
Ultimately, the audience decided that it was just too hard to crown one winner, but what do you think? You can comment on the blog below, or discuss the poems at the Quickmuse site.
Just a reminder about our event tonight!
7 PM, The Strand Bookstore (828 Broadway @ 12th street)
FSG's Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon faces off against Knopf's Brad Leithauser in a Quickmuse event to see who can create the best poem in front of an audience in only ten minutes. Bring your own brass knuckles, in case things get a little crazy. (You know how these poetry events can turn in a second!)
Debut poet Eliza Griswold opens the event with a reading from her upcoming book, Wideawake Field. Wine and cheese served.
And just to get you even more excited, here's a little preview of what Paul Muldoon has in store for you, thanks to YouTube:
