Oct 27 Weekly Poem: David Roderick ponders the strangeness of the suburbs By Victoria Fleischer David Roderick spent a year traveling abroad, in search of poetic inspiration. In Japan, he wrote prose poems, a form he hadn’t previously explored. In Ireland, he became “enamored” with composing ballads, and in Italy, he used art as inspiration… Continue reading
Oct 20 Weekly Poem: Laura Kasischke points to the lingering past By Andrew Troast The poetry in “The Infinitesimals” invites the reader to look into their own past and think on what it is to experience loss. Continue reading
Oct 13 Weekly Poem: Saskia Hamilton wants you to ‘dream over’ her work By Victoria Fleischer “The spirit of the book is a lot about passing through or passing by different lives and landscapes,” says Saskia Hamilton of her new collection, "Corridor."… Continue reading
Oct 06 Weekly Poem: Jennifer Michael Hecht reads ‘A Marriage of Love and Independence’ By artsdesk Listen to Jennifer Michael Hecht read her poem "A Marriage of Love and Independence" from her new collection, "Who Said."… Continue reading
Oct 01 Poet Edward Hirsch grieves his late son with an elegy for ‘Gabriel’ By Frank Carlson In 2011, Gabriel Hirsch, the 22-year-old son of acclaimed poet Edward Hirsch, died from a drug overdose. His father was beside himself with grief, and for a long time could not bring himself to work (since 2003 Hirsch has been… Continue reading
Sep 29 Weekly Poem: Sam Taylor struggles to speak Chinese By Andrew Troast We've taken our environment for granted for centuries and now we're at a point of "crisis." That is the driving theme in “Nude Descending an Empire,” the new collection by Sam Taylor published in August, which he was inspired to… Continue reading
Sep 25 Paramedic training, poetry change lives for California youth with few options By Cat Wise EMS Corps is relatively new Alameda County program that trains young men from disadvantaged backgrounds how to be EMTs. For a community where unemployment and incarceration rates are among the highest in the nation for men of color, the program… Continue reading
Sep 22 Weekly Poem: Carl Adamshick writes for the ‘mysterious other’ By Victoria Fleischer Carl Adamshick has been writing poetry seriously for 20 years and in most of the time he found himself with shorter poems. That’s what you’ll find if you pick up his first collection, “Curses and Wishes,” which won the Walt… Continue reading
Sep 15 Weekly Poem: Saeed Jones composes a ‘Prelude’ to one Boy’s coming-of-age By Anya van Wagtendonk Poet Saeed Jones explores themes of gender and masculinity, sex and violence, power, history and memory in his debut poetry collection, “Prelude to Bruise.” Crafted over the course of nearly five years, the book narrates the development of a figure… Continue reading
Sep 10 For his friend James Foley, Daniel Johnson reads ‘In the Absence of Sparrows’ By Anne Azzi Davenport Poet Daniel Johnson wrote "In the Absence of Sparrows" during the 656-day captivity of his close friend, journalist James Foley. on Aug 19, Foley became the first American citizen known to be killed by the Islamic State group. Continue reading