The poems in Winter Recipes from the Collective are about bearing with life in a barren place; they do the kind of singing Bertolt Brecht said was necessary when dealing with “the dark times.”
Poetry
Poetry Review: Writer Alain Mabanckou — Taking Life Both to Heart and in Stride
Take a dive into any of Alain Mabanckou’s works in English — and definitely score a copy of the new translation, As Long As Trees Take Root In the Earth, beautifully crafted and bound. Vive la Poesie!
Poetry Review: Ruth Lepson’s “on the way” — Basking in the Glow
Ruth Lepson’s poetry, at its most successful, creates the evocative and stimulating effect of a koan.
Poetry Review: “Acrobat” — The Beautiful Bengali Poetry of Nabaneeta Dev Sen
Translator Nandana Dev Sen has opened a window for us to savor Bengali women’s poetry through these lovingly translated poems of her mother.
Short Fuse Podcast #43: What is Poetry For?
Host Elizabeth Howard talks with poet and performer Kyle Ducayan, executive director of the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery, about the purpose of poetry.
Poetry Review: Maureen N. McLane’s “More Anon” — Lots of Existential Fun
Her poems are sassy.
Poetry Review: Marcia Karp’s “If By Song” — Verse Passionate and Unruly
This is a volume filled with complex pleasures and pains, assembled with purpose.
Book Review: Anahid Nersessian’s “Keats’s Odes: A Lover’s Discourse” — More like a Quarrel
Anahid Nersessian claims that her book is a kind of love story between her and Keats’ odes. But it turns out we have to take her word for that. Too often this study comes off like an acrimonious couple’s counseling session.
Poetry Review: “Field Music” — Lyrical Visions of Hardscrabble Vermont
The voice in Field Music is disciplined, its cagey earthiness unfailingly engaging our attention.
Poetry Review: Paul Celan — The Anguish of Writing in a “Damaged” Tongue
Poet Paul Celan has come to embody in person and in print the agonies of a half century of European culture.