The Best American Poetry

PEN World Voices.4 [by Sharon Preiss]

Sharon Preiss — Sun, 19 May 2013 19:05:34 PDT

(This is the fourth and last installment in a short series about the PEN World Voices Festival.) Every spring, for nine years running, the PEN World Voices Festival brings an astounding array of writers from all over the globe to...

A 70 Semester Break from Theocritus [by Raymond Sokolov]

The Best American Poetry — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:00:00 PDT

My interest in classical poetry is not casual, but I haven’t let it take over my life either. In fact, I dropped out of a doctoral program in classical philology in 1965, with only a thesis between me and the...

PEN World Voices.3 [by Sharon Preiss]

Sharon Preiss — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:07:33 PDT

(This is the third installment in a short series. Stay tuned for more about the PEN World Voices Festival.) Every spring, for nine years running, the PEN World Voices Festival brings an astounding array of writers from all over the...

On Gastronomical Authenticity [by Raymond Sokolov]

The Best American Poetry — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:00:00 PDT

When I blundered into the food world around 1964, my goal was to recreate the dishes I had eaten as a student tourist in Europe in the summers of 1960 and 1962 with my own hand in my own American...

"Happy Birthday, D.A. Powell!" [by Anthony Madrid via Facebook]

Anthony Madrid — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:27:57 PDT

D.A. POWELL (5/16) Doug Doug Doug And we’re bouncing off the walls— SHIFTYNIFTY turnin’ fifty In his overalls He’s in his overalls! He’s in his overalls!! Shiftynifty turnin’ fifty In his overalls ☎ D to P and middle vowel —Mystery...

PEN World Voices.2 [by Sharon Preiss]

Sharon Preiss — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:59:58 PDT

(This is the second installment in a short series. Stay tuned for more about the PEN World Voices Festival.) Every spring, for nine years running, the PEN World Voices Festival brings an astounding array of writers from all over the...

On Literature and Food [by Raymond Sokolov]

The Best American Poetry — Wed, 15 May 2013 07:52:09 PDT

Banquet Scene Nicias Painter (circa 420 BC In our food-besotted culture, chefs and cookbook authors get far more respect, by and large, than poets or classical musicias or scholars ever did before post-modernism had undermined the prestige of the “high”...

Did Goethe Read Horace? [by Raymond Sokolov]

The Best American Poetry — Tue, 14 May 2013 02:00:00 PDT

Portrayal of Horace by Giacomo Di Chirico Goethe’s famous mountain lyric, “On every summit,” (see yesterday’s post) reminded me of a now even more famous “poetic” encounter in the mountains of Crete during World War II between a German general...

PEN World Voices [by Sharon Preiss]

Sharon Preiss — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:30:34 PDT

(This is the first installment in a short series. Stay tuned for more about the PEN World Voices Festival!) Every spring, for nine years running, the PEN World Voices Festival brings an astounding array of writers from all over the...

Tonight at KGB: Sarah Arvio + David Kinloch

jdeming — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:42:15 PDT

KGB Monday Night Poetry is pleased to present... Sarah Arvio + David Kinloch Monday, May 13, 2013 Hosted by John Deming and Matthew Yeager Series founded in 1997 by Star Black and David Lehman Doors open at 7:00 pm Reading...