Tag Archives: poetry

The Poetry Mandate

Posted on October 20, 2019 by JMN

The Italian poet Gabriele d’Annunzio declared himself ruler of the city of the Hapsburg city of Fiume (now Rijeka in Croatia) on Sept. 12, 1919. His “rule” lasted 15 months. “He mandated daily poetry readings, regular concerts and constant fireworks.” … Continue reading →

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“Sagacious Show in a Handsome Shack”

Posted on July 3, 2019 by JMN

Brice Marden’s artistic and cultural crossing of boundaries is exciting. In the mid-1980s, the abstract painter Brice Marden veered from his early monochromes and grids to calligraphic circuits, inspired by his reading of the… poet Hanshan, or Cold Mountain… Black … Continue reading →

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Poet Brand

Posted on June 7, 2019 by JMN

(c) 2019 JMN

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More Wit, Less Affirmation!

Posted on June 4, 2019 by JMN

Jessa Crispin cites two writers to illustrate the distinction she draws between aphorism and affirmation. Aphorism: “He who fears death will never do anything worthy of a man who is alive.” (Seneca) Affirmation: “I do not need the kind of … Continue reading →

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Poetry for the Kitchen Slops Bucket

Posted on June 4, 2019 by JMN

Lucasta Miller is the author of “L.E.L.: The Lost Life and Scandalous Death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, the Celebrated ‘Female Byron.’” Landon’s “scandalous” death occurred at her own hand with prussic acid at age 36. Even today, Letitia Landon provokes … Continue reading →

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W. S. Merwin (1927-2019)

Posted on March 24, 2019 by JMN

This tribute to W. S. Merwin is by Dr. A. Hope Jahren, a geobiologist who is author of the memoir “Lab Girl” and a professor at the University of Oslo. My own experience of Merwin has been mostly through his … Continue reading →

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Touché

Posted on February 16, 2019 by JMN

… I was, in part, asking a question of myself: whether poetry that arose out of social media could hold up under intensive close reading. The answer, in short, was yes… As time passes, and the new poets grow older, … Continue reading →

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Broadside Press

Posted on February 14, 2019 by JMN

Randall started the publishing house, which was based in Detroit, with his librarian’s paycheck, and it swiftly became a success, producing dozens of broadsides — a printing style in which just one side of the paper is used — as … Continue reading →

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Follow the Money

Posted on January 27, 2019 by JMN

http://www.artorbiter.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pat-Steir-Facebook.jpg “It was unimaginable to everyone around me that a small girl — not even a big strapping girl — could live a life as an artist and stay alive and committed,” Ms. Steir said. Her father had gone to … Continue reading →

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Old English “Kennings”

Posted on January 5, 2019 by JMN

s3.amazonaws.com/libapps/accounts/35417/images/sutton_hoo_bigger.jpg There are ways of expressing feeling in the Old English kennings that do not exist in the formal English of today. Even if I were to dream up some delicious new portmanteau here — some melding of “history,” “poignant” … Continue reading →

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