“Can you call the philosophy department and tell them I’ve been arrested?” is an all-time quote.

from THE VEIL (Knopf, 1987)
by Denis Johnson

‘the protests are robbing my Columbia students of listening to John Cage’s 4’33, the piece of music that is explicitly designed to force you to listen to…what’s around you.’ absolutely perfect

What an extraordinary, touching and generous exchange between Rita Dove and the dying Helen Vendler, a great critic whose loss we mourn.

‘I know a man who bit into a lightbulb’

- I like this poem a lot, by Elisa Gabbert (from American Poetry Review)

A praise poem to Vaseline by Danez Smith

there will always be a slow alphabet of rain

Denis Johnson

‘I’m listening to the spin cycle
its determination to make it to the end’

- from Laurie Bolger’s epic pamphlet ‘Spin’

‘My First Orgasm at Main Street Baptist Church’ by LaWanda Walters

The Clearing
by Kathryn Bevis
from The Butterfly House

‘To confront another person is the same as confronting/ a sheep’s pelvis’

- Dr Victoria Kennefick (She/Her)🍉 from the glorious ‘Egg/Shell’

Tonight!

'We seek out ways to make time stop. That only happens in moments of total attention, which is why we pursue them.' Anne Carson speaks to Kate Dwyer

theparisreview.org/blog/2024/04/1…

'In a sense, the poem, to be any good, has got to know more than 'I' know. I can only come after it.'

Denise Riley interviewed by Romana Huk in the Summer 1995 PN Review

After listening to Camille Ralphs' interview on Words That Burn Podcast yesterday I went straight out today and bought her stunning debut 'After You Were, I Am'. It's worth it for the Notes alone but full of good things like 'Job 3:11-23' but the first, 'after George Herbert' is superb.

A PROBLEM WITH THE LANDING GEAR by Frederick Seidel #poetry #poetry community #poems

Friday:
Discover Bristol's local talent with a one-time pop-up showcase featuring graphic designers, artists, photographers, DJs, and more.

A poetic evening with Alice Oswald, Rachel Long, and Caroline Bird, featuring their captivating readings as part of Lyra.

Some knockout poems in the current issue of Magma (Underworld). Loving this, by Fiona Benson. ⁦Magma Poetry⁩

I told you tonight we die as a family
we were supposed to die
as a family

‘We move authority like a strand of black hair’

- Sanah Ahsan, from ‘I Cannot Be Good Until You Say It’ Bloomsbury Books UK