The Best American Poetry

Celebrate 25 Years of The Best American Poetry: Launch Reading on April 11 in NYC

Available for pre-order:

 Launch readings hosted by David Lehman and Robert Pinsky and featuring poets included in this volume:

April 11, 7:00 PM:  Tishman Auditorium, Alvin Johnson/J. M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th Street, New York, NY. With Robert Pinsky, David Lehman,  Mark Doty, Edward Hirsch, Richard Howard, Marie Howe, Major Jackson, Lawrence Joseph, Yusef Komunyakaa, Sarah Manguso, J.D. McClatchy, Paul Muldoon, Meghan O'Rourke, Tom Sleigh, Susan Wheeler, and C. K. Williams. Details here.

<<<

from Donna Seaman's review in Booklist:

Each year a new volume in the Best American Poetry series, founded by poet Lehman, appears, each edited by a distinguished American poet, the likes of A. R. Ammons and Amy Gerstler. To celebrate the series' twenty-fifth anniversary, Lehman asked former poet laureate Pinsky to select 100 "best of the best." The result is a concentrated, high-caliber, and exhilarating overview of the intensity and artistry that have made American poetry so splendidly varied and vital since 1988. . . . Pinsky, an inspired poetry advocate, explains that his criteria were "ear, imagination, and urgency". . .Given the depth of Lehman's and Pinsky's opening essays and the concise poet biographies and the poet's original statements about the writing of the poems, this is an anthology of broad scope, serious pleasure, and invaluable illumination.
>>>

-- sdh

Robert Pinsky on Radio Boston: The "weird majesty" of American poetry

Former US Poet Laureate and Guest Editor of The Best of the Best American Poetry Robert Pinsky in the WBUR studios. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Listen to the program and read excerpts from The Best of the Best American Poetry here.  

Join Robert Pinsky at the first launch reading to celebrate 25 years of The Best American Poetry:  April 4, 6:00 PM, Boston, MA:  Metcalf Building, George Sherman Union, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Second Floor, Boston, MA. With David Lehman, Frank Bidart, Carl Phillips, Lloyd Schwartz, Charles Simic, Rosanna Warren, and Franz Wright.   Details here.

-- sdh

Sydney Lea, Guest Blogger April 1-5

This week we welcome Sydney Lea as our guest blogger.  Sydney is Poet Laureate of Vermont. His most recent collection of poems is I Was Thinking of Beauty  (Four Way Books, 2013). Six Sundays Toward a Seventh: Selected Spiritual Poems (Wipf and Stock) appeared in 2012, as did his elected literary essays, A Hundred Himalayas (U. of Michigan Press).His third collection of naturalist essays, A North Country Life: Tales of Woodsmen, Waters and Wildlife, is now available from Skyhorse Publishing.

Welcome, Sydney

In other news . . .

Launch readings to celebrate The Best of the Best American Poetry:

April 4, 6:00 PM, Boston, MA:  Metcalf Building, George Sherman Union, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Second Floor, Boston, MA. With  Robert Pinsky, David Lehman, Frank Bidart, Carl Phillips, Lloyd Schwartz, Charles Simic, Rosanna Warren, and Franz Wright.   Details here.

April 11, 7:00 PM, NYC:  Tishman Auditorium, Alvin Johnson/J. M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th Street, New York, NY. With Robert Pinsky, David Lehman,  Mark Doty, Edward Hirsch, Richard Howard, Marie Howe, Major Jackson, Lawrence Joseph, Yusef Komunyakaa, Sarah Manguso, J.D. McClatchy, Paul Muldoon, Meghan O'Rourke, Tom Sleigh, Susan Wheeler, and C. K. Williams. Details here.

-- sdh

Happy Birthday Best American Poetry: Launch readings in Boston (April 4) and NYC (April 11)

Click cover to pre-order:

 Launch readings hosted by David Lehman and Robert Pinsky and featuring poets included in this volume:

 

April 4, 6:00 PM:  Metcalf Building, George Sherman Union, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Second Floor, Boston, MA. With  Robert Pinsky, David Lehman, Frank Bidart, Carl Phillips, Lloyd Schwartz, Charles Simic, Rosanna Warren, and Franz Wright.   Details here.

April 11, 7:00 PM:  Tishman Auditorium, Alvin Johnson/J. M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th Street, New York, NY. With Robert Pinsky, David Lehman,  Mark Doty, Edward Hirsch, Richard Howard, Marie Howe, Major Jackson, Lawrence Joseph, Yusef Komunyakaa, Sarah Manguso, J.D. McClatchy, Paul Muldoon, Meghan O'Rourke, Tom Sleigh, Susan Wheeler, and C. K. Williams. Details here.

<<<

from Donna Seaman's review in Booklist:

Each year a new volume in the Best American Poetry series, founded by poet Lehman, appears, each edited by a distinguished American poet, the likes of A. R. Ammons and Amy Gerstler. To celebrate the series' twenty-fifth anniversary, Lehman asked former poet laureate Pinsky to select 100 "best of the best." The result is a concentrated, high-caliber, and exhilarating overview of the intensity and artistry that have made American poetry so splendidly varied and vital since 1988. . . . Pinsky, an inspired poetry advocate, explains that his criteria were "ear, imagination, and urgency". . .Given the depth of Lehman's and Pinsky's opening essays and the concise poet biographies and the poet's original statements about the writing of the poems, this is an anthology of broad scope, serious pleasure, and invaluable illumination.
>>>

-- sdh

New York City to Celebrate Frederico García Lorca

The Spanish writer Federico García Lorca lived in New York in 1929 and 1930 and wrote about the experience in a book of verse. Lorca will be the subject of a citywide festival beginning early next month. Many of the events are free.  Click on the image below for details:

Leslie Heywood, Guest Blogger March 25-29

This week we welcome Leslie Heywood as our guest blogger.  Leslie is Professor of English and Creative Writing at SUNY-Binghamton. She is the author of Pretty Good for a Girl: A Memoir (Free Press/Simon & Schuster). She has published two books of poetry, The Proving Grounds (Red Hen Press) and Natural Selection (Louisana Literature Press). Lost Arts, her third poetry book, is forthcoming Spring 2013.  Her poetry has been published in Prairie Schooner, Paterson Literary Review, Women’s Studies Quarterly, North American Review, and elsewhere.  Her poems “Telescope” and “Don’t Eat the Tuna” were nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She has also published widely on the subject of women’s sports, and is a lifelong athlete, currently a CrossFit competitor and owner of the CrossFit affiliate CrossFit Kinesis.  She lives in upstate New York with her husband and two daughters.

Welcome, Leslie.

In other news . . .

Celebrate 25 Years of The Best American Poetry! Pre-Order a copy and save the dates for launch readings:

Boston - April 4, 6:00 PM:  Metcalf Building, George Sherman Union, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Second Floor, Boston, MA. With  Robert Pinsky, David Lehman, Frank Bidart, Carl Phillips, Lloyd Schwartz, Charles Simic, Rosanna Warren, and Franz Wright.   Details here.

NYC - April 11, 7:00 PM:  The New School, Tishman Auditorium, Alvin Johnson/J. M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th Street, New York, NY. With Robert Pinsky, David Lehman,  Mark Doty, Edward Hirsch, Richard Howard, Marie Howe, Major Jackson, Lawrence Joseph, Yusef Komunyakaa, Sarah Manguso, J.D. McClatchy, Paul Muldoon, Meghan O'Rourke,Thomas Sleigh, Susan Wheeler, and C. K. Williams. Details here.

"To celebrate the series' twenty-fifth anniversary, Lehman asked former poet laureate Pinsky to select 100 "best of the best." The result is a concentrated, high-caliber, and exhilarating overview of the intensity and artistry that have made American poetry so splendidly varied and vital since 1988."

                                                                          Donna Seaman, Booklist

-- sdh

Happy 25th Birthday Best American Poetry: Save the Dates for Launch Readings in Boston and NYC

Available for pre-order:

 Launch readings hosted by David Lehman and Robert Pinsky and featuring poets included in this volume:

April 4, 6:00 PM:  Metcalf Building, George Sherman Union, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Second Floor, Boston, MA. With  Robert Pinsky, David Lehman, Frank Bidart, Carl Phillips, Lloyd Schwartz, Charles Simic, Rosanna Warren, and Franz Wright.   Details here.

April 11, 7:00 PM:  Tishman Auditorium, Alvin Johnson/J. M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th Street, New York, NY. With Robert Pinsky, David Lehman,  Mark Doty, Edward Hirsch, Richard Howard, Marie Howe, Major Jackson, Lawrence Joseph, Yusef Komunyakaa, Sarah Manguso, J.D. McClatchy, Paul Muldoon, Meghan O'Rourke, Tom Sleigh, Susan Wheeler, and C. K. Williams. Details here.

<<<

from Donna Seaman's review in Booklist:

Each year a new volume in the Best American Poetry series, founded by poet Lehman, appears, each edited by a distinguished American poet, the likes of A. R. Ammons and Amy Gerstler. To celebrate the series' twenty-fifth anniversary, Lehman asked former poet laureate Pinsky to select 100 "best of the best." The result is a concentrated, high-caliber, and exhilarating overview of the intensity and artistry that have made American poetry so splendidly varied and vital since 1988. . . . Pinsky, an inspired poetry advocate, explains that his criteria were "ear, imagination, and urgency". . .Given the depth of Lehman's and Pinsky's opening essays and the concise poet biographies and the poet's original statements about the writing of the poems, this is an anthology of broad scope, serious pleasure, and invaluable illumination.
>>>

-- sdh

Elaine Fletcher Chapman, Guest Blogger March 18 - 22

This week we welcome Elaine Fletcher Chapman (formerly Elaine Walters McFerron) as our guest blogger.  Elaine holds an MFA from The Bennington Writing Seminars where she works as Alumni Liaison. She founded The Writer’s Studio where she teaches writing and presents poetry readings in the Historic Cokesbury Church in Onancock, Virginia. Elaine is a psychotherapist in private practice and provides life coaching for artists. Her poems have been published in Connotation, The Sun, Calyx, Poet Lore, 5AM, Salamander, and elsewhere. Green River Press (Wyn Cooper & Shawna Parker) published her letterpress chapbook, Double Solitude. She is the author of a nonfiction book, The Therapist’s Diary; a volume of verse, Hunger for Salt; and Three Ridges, Three Seasons: Haibun and Photography, a contemplative collaboration with the photographer, Robert M. Chapman. These books are yet to find publishers.

Welcome, Elaine.

In other news . . .

Celebrate 25 Years of The Best American Poetry! Pre-Order a Copy and Save the dates for launch readings:

Boston - April 4, 6:00 PM:  Metcalf Building, George Sherman Union, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Second Floor, Boston, MA. With  Robert Pinsky, David Lehman, Frank Bidart, Carl Phillips, Lloyd Schwartz, Charles Simic, Rosanna Warren, and Franz Wright.   Details here.

NYC - April 11, 7:00 PM:  The New School, Tishman Auditorium, Alvin Johnson/J. M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th Street, New York, NY. With Robert Pinsky, David Lehman,  Mark Doty, Edward Hirsch, Richard Howard, Marie Howe, Major Jackson, Lawrence Joseph, Yusef Komunyakaa, Sarah Manguso, J.D. McClatchy, Paul Muldoon, Meghan O'Rourke,Thomas Sleigh, Susan Wheeler, and C. K. Williams. Details here.

"To celebrate the series' twenty-fifth anniversary, Lehman asked former poet laureate Pinsky to select 100 "best of the best." The result is a concentrated, high-caliber, and exhilarating overview of the intensity and artistry that have made American poetry so splendidly varied and vital since 1988."

                                                                          Donna Seaman, Booklist

-- sdh

Archie Rand Breaks the Idols on Sunday, March 17

Where? City Winery, 155 Varick Street, New York City
When? Sunday, March 17th at 9:45 AM
Who? Archie Rand, painter and muralist, in conversation with Rabbi Dan Ain
What? "Art, relligion, and defying the establishment"

Join Jewish iconoclast Archie Rand and Rabbi Dan Ain for a breakfast conversation about art, religion and defiance. From his murals at "The Painted Shul," which cover the interior at Congregation B'nai Yosef in Brooklyn, to his recent work, "The 613," which includes individual panels and depictions for all 613 commandments, Rand has been creating radical Jewish art for almost thirty years. On the left is a reproduction of Rabd's "Yonah" (Jonah).  "As a consequence of [Rand's artistic] insolence he has been exiled to what amounts to a critical wilderness. It is time to redeem him from exile, time for the Jewish public to take note and acknowledge the accomplishments of the foremost creator of Jewish art working today. Our cultural future depends on it." - Richard McBee, The Jewish Week.

Archie Rand, who has collaborated fruitfully with John Ashbery and other poets, has had his work featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Have I Got a Deal for YOU: Help Build a Poetry Lending Library

Ed note:  This exciting opportunity comes to us from Amanda Deutch by way of Matthea Harvey and Facebook:

Hi poets! Do you have a copy of your book that you'd be willing to donate to a poetry lending library in Coney Island? If so, here's the info! I've already sent mine...xx M

Details below...

From Amanda Deutch: I teach poetry once a week for the YWCA teen girls empowerment group in Coney Island. The girls I work with are great--very talented and interested in poetry. We started an online magazine, where you can see some of their work here: www.teenagefevermag.tumblr.com
We have read poets from Frank O'Hara and Tracie Morris to Diane DiPrima and Muriel Rukeyser. About two weeks ago, I noticed that there were no poetry books in the school's library. This inspired me to start a poetry lending library in the after school YWCA room. This is where you come in. Would you like to have your books read by at-risk teens in NYC? If so, please send one (or two if you want them to go to the school's permanent collection as well as the afterschool's) copy of any or all books you have authored. Feel free to sign it or leave a note for a teen. These books will really be appreciated by the teenagers. Thank you!

This project was initiated as part of Parachute: the Coney Island Performance Festival.

Please send your poetry books to:

Rachel Carson High School

YWCA Room 346

521 West Ave

Brooklyn NY 11224

-- sdh