Ken Gordon, Editor of JBooks, posts this letter on the JBooks website:
September 23, 2010
Dear Readers,
I hope you've enjoyed our brief introduction to this tireless poet, prose writer, and editor. In the New Year, let's all strive to be more Lehmanesque in our literary lives.
This issue, the multifaceted David Lehman kicks off our new Jewish Manuscript Project--in which we peek at the creative process of our best authors--by walking us through the various stages of his "Poem in the Prophetic Mode." Observe closely as it evolves from a scratched out rough draft, to a word-processed revision, to final publication in The Atlantic.
Lehman has long been a poet unafraid to bring readers his unfiltered stuff. In The Daily Mirror, he published two year's worth of spontaneous daily verse. To get even closer to his process, watch his real-time QuickMuse improvisations, which found their way into his latest published volume, Yeshiva Boys. Book trailer here.
You might also be interested the Musical Lehman. He is something of an authority on Jewish-American songwriters: so much so that he wrote a Jewish Encounters book on the topic. Here's a list of Lehman's top-ten Jewish-American standards, for those of you who still care about standards...
Perhaps you'd like to meet David Lehman, the editor. As the curator of the Best American Poetry Series, he has made himself into one of the more influential people in the poetry world.
Happy reading,
Ken GordonEditor, JBooks.com
-- sdh
