“His letters are not simply a wonderful adjunct to his poems, but a vital and valuable part of them: they often serve as testing grounds for his theories and ideas, and always blend spontaneity and calculation in a way which allows us to see him in the round.” -Andrew Motion, Keats There are many reasons… Read more »
Posts Tagged: Blogging
Poetry and the Information Age
I have been questioning my preference for reading poetry on paper versus digital text for some time now, wondering what might underpin these instincts. It recently occurred to me that the difference in mental state I experience when reading a book versus surfing the web may actually have a basis in science. The advent of… Read more »
Blogging Revisited
Since Thanksgiving, traffic to this website dropped by half, and has stayed there over the past few weeks. And yet I find myself, swept up in this season of gratitude and giving, truly thankful for the ways in which this medium has allowed me to connect with other artists and thinkers. Just the other day,… Read more »
Blogging, Reincarnated
“I rhyme / To see myself, to set the darkness echoing.” -Seamus Heaney, “Personal Helicon” Wired Magazine‘s Paul Boutin recently declared personal blogging dead. Soon after, The Atlantic‘s Andrew Sullivan extolled the endurance of blogging’s “human brand” in a postmodern world of words. Me? I just keep writing. But why? In “Personal Helicon” Seamus Heaney… Read more »
In Memory of Marc Orchant
Photo by Brian Solis I was saddened to read that technology journalist Marc Orchant passed away this afternoon, having been unconscious for several days following a major heart attack. I only met Marc once in person, but he struck me as vibrant, fit, and extremely likable. He is survived by his wife and two children…. Read more »
Open Thanks
My friend and colleague Kelly Forrister (née O’Brien) stopped by this evening to hand me an autographed copy of Seamus Heaney’s New Selected Poems: 1966-1987. She studied with him and several others on a summer course at Trinity College, Dublin, and had pints with him after class. This was just after his appointment at Oxford,… Read more »
Poem in North American Review
The March/April issue of North American Review arrived yesterday, bearing one of my poems. Yes, you read that right–the March/April issue arrived yesterday, at the end of November. Our nation’s oldest literary magazine is also currently one of its tardiest. As a subscriber (and now contributor), I wrote to them in June (when the December… Read more »
Facelift: New Look and Feel
As you can see, I decided to implement a new, custom template for this site. The main thing you will notice is that each page now expands to fill the size of your browser window. Hopefully this will help the site feel less cluttered. My main inspirations for the design were the New York Times… Read more »
Taking My Own Advice
This post hit me hard, and made me realize I should take the advice I was dishing out on the Ploughshares blog about the Lehman scandal. Basically, the blogosphere seems content to debate rather than take action. And debating and discussing all aspects of poetry is interesting–even seductive. But the truth is, writing poetry is… Read more »
