The Greatest Essay Ever Written: How To Be America's Next Top Poet @3:05 PM
There are about 2000 extremely quotable things in this Jim Behrle essay on how to become America's Most Famous Ever Poet. It is fantastic. May I just quote three???
1. "We might believe that what the media term 'buzz' gets created organically—that everyone just starts tweeting about Jersey Shore episodes on their own, without any prompting. But it actually takes a concerted effort across a spectrum of sources to create the phenomena we have come to know and love. I learned this in the publicity office of a big-time Manhattan publisher, where most of my time was spent on my knees." And! READ MORE 21
Elements of Stale, with Luke Mazur: Sister, You're A Poet @12:10 PM
So last Sunday I read an op-ed in the Times, where some dude argues in favor of Catholic priests saying Mass, while facing the direction opposite of the congregation. Now, this op-ed was most wacky to me not because of anything inherently awkward about facing away from the people you're talking to. (But, yes.) Or because Kenneth J. Wolfe assumes that there is very much of a congregation these days not to face. (Ha, I think.) But because I remember learning back in high school that the Catholic Church had already reversed this practice once before. READ MORE 9
Here's a solution to your recession worries: Japanese poems! "Working on a haiku is the perfect anecdote when life's financial challenges mount. Compose one in your head when you're stuck in traffic or as you're waiting in line at the supermarket to pay with your ever thinner wallet." @2:00 PM 12
Ode To A Hot Chick From The Movies @1:45 PM
Sure, you can read Lynn Hirschberg's long profile of Megan Fox in this week's New York Times Magazine. And you should! Even though the lead is "Megan Fox is a fox," you'll still learn some stuff. But if you're pressed for time, we've condensed the whole thing down to a brief poem. A poem about Megan Fox. I call it "Megan Fox: The Poem." Read closely, there's going to be a quiz later. READ MORE 44
Frederick Seidel: "Women are Objects, Sexual and Otherwise" @12:10 PM
The new Paris Review has a long interview with poet Frederick Seidel by FSG president Jonathan Galassi; a small excerpt is online. (This is a much better match-up than the hideous choice of Katie Roiphe to interview Gay Talese in the last issue!) I love Seidel, despite that I usually reflexively (and properly) dislike many born-rich artists. And, you know, the Harvard set. Among other great moments of the interview, Seidel reveals the contents of a letter from Ezra Pound, regarding the incoming president of Harvard (that would be Nathan Pusey, in 1953, who was then rather liberal but whose liberal views were outpaced, let's say, by the changing country). This letter from Pound said: "Only you can save Harvard from that kikesucking Pusey," which, wow. But let us turn to the part where Seidel discusses Issues with Ladies. READ MORE 24
On Leonard Cohen @4:15 PM
"Cohen's lyrics stand up in a variety of settings, and his limited vocal range tends to leave his melodies unfinished, allowing room for experimentation. On Buckley's version of 'Hallelujah,' for instance, the verse melodies ascend, and the open-throated singing transforms the chorus into a kind of earnest incantation that the songwriter probably wouldn't attempt himself. Cohen may sing about transcendence, but he seems never to fully endorse it."
Slightly late on this one, but Sasha Frere-Jones has a nice appreciation of Leonard Cohen over at the New Yorker. 3
In the Weeds: The English Elm of Washington Heights, or, 'The Trees of Manhattan Island Are Gradually Following the Fate of the Red Men' @7:34 PM
Looking north from the intersection of St. Nicholas and Amsterdam Avenues toward 163rd Street in Washington Heights, you might notice what appears to be an exceedingly large tree. And as the August heat radiates off the surrounding pavement, you might say to yourself: WTF, is that a mirage? Because really, there's nothing about the neighborhood—replete with liquor stores, decaying apartment palaces, abandoned lots and vacant storefronts—that would seem to lend itself to hosting such a magnificent specimen. READ MORE 3
New Anne Carson @9:40 AM
Oh but hey there is a great little new Anne Carson poem today! An epithalamium, you might need to know, is a poem for a bride, sung before the wedding…. though there is this intriguing sentence on the Wikipedia: "Among the Romans a similar custom was in vogue, but the song was sung by girls only, after the marriage guests had gone, and it contained much more of what modern attitudes would identify as obscene." Oooh. 2
Dylan Does Lazarus @12:09 PM
Please enjoy this audio recording of Sirius XM radio host Wolfman Jack Bob Dylan reading Emma Lazarus' "The New Colossus." Also pay particular attention to the segue into a Lou Reed track. Dude is a pro. 0
Michael Jackson's Death Inspires Outpouring Of Verse @10:15 AM
Poetic tributes to the late Michael Jackson are popping up all over! Perhaps in response to our own attempt at versification, a reader passes along the following bit of metric encomium. It is really something! READ MORE 2
Who Killed Michael Jackson? @11:19 AM
In the wake of the pop icon's passing, the main questions emerging seem to center around responsibility and blame. But isn't there enough of both to go around? As an answer and a valedictory, we offer you the following poem. READ MORE 29
The Shadow Editors: Bill Keller, History Slut (Or, Bigfoot Strikes Again) @4:52 PM
Tom Scocca: Keller of 'NYT' in Iran: 'The Iranians Watch Us Closely'
Choire Sicha: Mr. Executive Editor of the Times is driving me a little crazy. His Reporter's Notebook?
Tom Scocca: Oh? Oh. "A newcomer to town."
Tom Scocca: Oh, he did not do a "Welcome to…" transition.
Choire Sicha: He's like 20 seconds away from a "Reader, I x'd Him." READ MORE 8
Oxford Poetry Sex Scandal! @10:16 AM
Scandal in the world of British academia, as "Ruth Padel, the first woman elected Oxford's professor of poetry, has resigned following claims she tipped off journalists about allegations that her chief rival for the post, Derek Walcott, had sexually harassed students." READ MORE 8
An Olsen Twin, In Verse, On Spring @1:51 PM
At last, someone has noticed that Mary-Kate Olsen speaks in verse. 3
This Week In 'New Yorker' Poetry @11:06 AM
This week's poetry in the New Yorker: 1. A "lunch poem" by Jonathan Galassi, the editor-in-chief of Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (Also Harvard '71!) This is his second for the magazine. It seems to be about a romantic and manly Parisian bed-in with a lover? (Here is some biography: "He and his wife Susan Grace Galassi, a curator at the Frick Collection, live in Brooklyn with their daughters Isabel and Beatrice.") 2. A short poem by Katha Pollitt, Nation columnist and ex-wife of the NY Times magazine's The Ethicist. This is her 25th poem for the magazine. 3. The seventh poem published by the New Yorker of D. Nurkse; also, the best of the three. 0
Listicle without Commentary: The 94 Best Philip Larkin Poems, In Order @1:30 PM
94. Going
93. The North Ship
92. Homage To A Government
91. To Put One Brick Upon Another
90. Faith Healing
89. A Study Of Reading Habits
88. Grief
87. Love, We Must Part Now
86. Deceptions
85. The School In August READ MORE 38