Some of my friends were nice enough to send me their own lists of books that matter.
The Tantalizing Tara Betts:
Books That Influenced My Poetry (I’ll just name 10)
1. 100 Love Sonnets by Pablo Neruda
2. Imagine the Angels of Bread by Martin Espada
3. Blacks by Gwendolyn Brooks
4. Neon Vernacular by Yusef Komunyakaa
5. Homegirls & Handgrenades [...]
Archive for November, 2008
25 Nov
Feedback: My Friends Contribute Their Own Book Lists
15 Nov
Books That Matter to Me. How About You?
I really think one of the best things we can do for one another (aside from offering perspectives on writing) is to share our perspectives on reading. We do it all the time, but so often we do it in private. I think it would be great if we could share/confess/list books that matter to [...]
13 Nov
This Week’s Form: The Bop
via Poets.org
A recent invention, the Bop was created by Afaa Michael Weaver during a summer retreat of the African American poetry organization, Cave Canem. Not unlike the Shakespearean sonnet in trajectory, the Bop is a form of poetic argument consisting of three stanzas, each stanza followed by a repeated line, or refrain, and each undertaking [...]
12 Nov
Tough Encouragement For Writing
We all have our ups and downs, especially when it comes to producing work we are happy with. This past week or so, I had what I like to call a min-writer’s block. I get them from time to time, usually when I’ve been writing about the same subject matter over and over again. Instead [...]
8 Nov
Major Jackson, Charles Bernstein, and Cecily Parks…
will be reading at the New School tonight at a reception for the launch of the new issue of American Poet, the journal of the Academy of American Poets. Tickets are $5 and available at the door.
Here’s the address: 65 W. 11th Street, 5th floor, Rm. 550
8 Nov
This week’s form: the kwansaba
I just found out about this form a couple of weeks ago and thought I’d share it with you. It consists of seven lines with seven words in each line and no word with more than seven characters.
Here’s an explanation of the form via Janet Grace Riehl:
The Kwansaba came into being as a praise song. [...]
4 Nov
A Peculiar Kind of Writer’s Block
I’m not going to lie ya’ll. I’ve been trying to write all damn day and I have very little to show for it. Often, when I’m having trouble putting lines together, I will change things up. Having trouble writing in free verse? Maybe the poem needs some meter. Try writing it as a triolet. Give [...]
