La Vie de Bohème La Vie de Bohème
Drawing from the New York counterculture in which he immersed himself, Ted Berrigan's sonnets and other poems sing beautifully about being broken and graceful and tough.
Jan 4, 2006 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
Prosaic Judgments Prosaic Judgments
Adam Kirsch prefers his own ideas about poetry to actual poems.
Jun 29, 2005 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
Patrimony Patrimony
Kevin Young updates the Harlem Renaissance for the hip-hop generation.
Apr 21, 2005 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
The Illusion of Inclusion The Illusion of Inclusion
In 1958 John Ashbery sailed for Paris to gather materials for a thesis he intended to write about Raymond Roussel, who at the time was an all-but-forgotten French poet, playwrigh...
Dec 9, 2004 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
Difficult Loves Difficult Loves
It wasn't until 1996, when President Bill Clinton declared April to be National Poetry Month, that the eminent translator and poet Richard Howard truly grasped the significance o...
Sep 16, 2004 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
Water’s Edge Water’s Edge
Manhattan is a tight little island. Around thirteen miles long, it has a width that varies from two miles to a few hundred feet.
Mar 25, 2004 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
The War of Words The War of Words
Many rhetorical bombshells were lobbed by British and American poets during the political turmoil of the 1930s, but few detonated as loudly as this cluster of words: "Today t...
Dec 24, 2003 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
When Poetry Was the Rage When Poetry Was the Rage
"That was a benefit shooting." So said a shaken Kenneth Koch to a stunned audience seconds after a tall, scraggly man fired a pistol at him on January 10, 1968.
May 29, 2003 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
‘The Heart’s Garden’ ‘The Heart’s Garden’
The day that Kenneth Rexroth died was not a dark, cold day.
Oct 31, 2002 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella
‘Blue Clear Down’ ‘Blue Clear Down’
Late in her life, Lorine Niedecker collected several dozen of her poems in handmade books that she gave to three friends. One poem common to all three books is "Who Was Mary Shell...
Jun 6, 2002 / Books & the Arts / John Palattella