“Why do we fear words?”: On the birthday of Nazik Al-Malaika
Today would have been the ninety-fourth birthday of Iraqi poet Nazik Al-Malaika, known for her poetry’s formal innovation, commitment to moral witness, and straight-up gorgeousness. She was one of the first poets… Read more »
Happy eighty-eighth birthday of Adrienne Rich, everybody
The world is a crazy medley of cymbals and cuckoo-clock noises, and it’s an excellent moment to reach for ballast to the writing of Adrienne Rich, who would have turned eighty-eight today.… Read more »
I never liked the World Trade Center. / When it went up I talked it down
So begins David Lehman’s “World Trade Center,” written in 1996, about the way his feelings toward the Towers changed over time. This poem is the frontispiece in Poetry After 9/11,… Read more »
Are publishers keeping women down?
Are publishers inadvertently reinforcing an imbalance of acceptance given to books written by men compared to those written by women? Author Meg Wolitzer in a New York Times story, asks depressingly… 1 / Read more »
Hail & Farewell: Adrienne Rich
Poet Adrienne Rich died Tuesday at her home in Santa Cruz, California, after a long battle with rheumatoid arthritis. Rich was 82. As a San Francisco Chronicle obituary by Meredith… 1 / Read more »