Chris Robinson

Poem of the Week: Ariana Nadia Nash

by Chris Robinson January 31, 2014 The Other

Ariana Nadia Nash is a poet of the body, like Neruda, like Whitman, but her poems do not move with Neruda’s desire-driven caprice, nor do they swell with Whitman’s electric and expansive equation of body and soul. Rather, they proceed with the structured precision of a surgeon (the title of her prize-winning collection is revealing [...]

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Poem(s) of the Week: Mark Leidner

by Chris Robinson January 24, 2014 The Other

I first encountered Mark Leidner’s poems on in 2007. Those early poems struck me for how they treated absurd corners of cultural ephemera with the utmost seriousness, and in a vernacular language that seamlessly ascended to momentary heights of poetic beauty. And Leidner read them in an incredibly patient and affectless voice. The overall effect: [...]

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Poem of the Week: Jay Thompson

by Chris Robinson January 17, 2014 The Other

I have always admired how Jay Thompson’s poems approach meaning by backing away from it, inhabiting that paradox of quantum observation, that one’s gaze affects reality. In this excerpt from Winter, it is not the superfice, but the essence that is mutable: “day to day only essences change”. A counter-intuitive statement, which perhaps makes more [...]

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Poem of the Week: Mark Conway

by Chris Robinson January 10, 2014 The Other

From Chris: Mark Conway’s poems refuse to sit still, even when, or perhaps especially when talking about stillness. The double colons and forward slashes that punctuate these lines seem to me to operate like the stutter or dip of a manual transmission shifting into higher gear, propelling the poem forward. The poem below is about [...]

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Poem of the Week: Rich Armstrong

by Chris Robinson January 3, 2014 The Other

From Chris: Richard Armstrong’s poems attempt to say smart things in dumb ways, to slip under the intellectual scrutiny practiced poetry readers bring to bear on unfamiliar work. I am continually surprised by how he is able to create an emotive impact through sloganeering, through the melding of bro-speak, blue-collar imagery, street slang, and archaic [...]

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Brain vs. heart

by Chris Robinson April 27, 2012 eBooks

You’re in love. The problem is, you haven’t told the girl, and your brain and your heart have different ideas about how to proceed. Brain vs. heartis a dialog between the brain and the heart of one man as he attempts to “make the move.” Both indulgently prosaic and absurdly poetic, with plenty of in-jokes [...]

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Poetry Fix, Episode 20: Weldon Kees

by Chris Robinson February 5, 2011 Poetry Fix

Mary Karr and Christopher Robinson discuss Weldon Kees’s poem “1926.”

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Poetry Fix, Episode 19: Thomas Lux

by Chris Robinson January 14, 2011 Poetry Fix

Mary Karr and Christopher Robinson discuss Thomas Lux’s poem “Tarantulas on the Lifebuoy.”

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Poetry Fix, Episode 18: More Milosz

by Chris Robinson January 5, 2011 Poetry Fix

Mary Karr and Christopher Robinson discuss Czeslaw Milosz’s poem “Late Ripeness.”

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Poetry Fix, Episode 17: Milosz

by Chris Robinson December 24, 2010 Poetry Fix

Mary Karr and Christopher Robinson discuss Czeslaw Milosz’s poems “On Prayer” and “And Yet the Books.”

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Poetry Fix Episode 16: Heather McHugh

by Chris Robinson November 27, 2010 Poetry Fix

Mary Karr and Christopher Robinson discuss Heather McHugh’s poem “I Knew I’d Sing.”

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More Construction Notes

by migration_test October 14, 2010 Academia

Just a few things to notice about the site redesign. 1. You can now login and comment with your Twitter, Facebook, Open ID, Yahoo, or many other accounts. In the process of this changeover, the old comments have disappeared. Fear not! They are not lost. We’re just in the process of importing them, and barring [...]

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Poetry Fix, Episode 12: Baseball Haiku

by Chris Robinson October 2, 2010 Poetry Fix

Mary Karr and Christopher Robinson briefly discuss baseball haiku.

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Poetry Fix Episode 11: Terrence Hayes

by Chris Robinson September 30, 2010 Poetry Fix

Mary Karr and Christopher Robinson briefly discuss Terrence Hayes’s poem “Talk.”

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Poetry Fix Episode 10: William Matthews

by Chris Robinson September 27, 2010 Poetry Fix

Mary Karr and Christopher Robinson discuss William Matthews’s poem “Cheap Seats.”

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Poetry Fix Episode 4: Wallace Stevens

by Chris Robinson July 6, 2010 Mary Karr

Episode 4 now available on YouTube. Wallace Stevens’s poem “.” Related Posts Poetry Fix Episode 3: Pablo Neruda Poetry Fix Episode 1: Robert Hass.June 25, 2010 Poetry Fix Episode 2: ArchilochosJune 28, 2010 TheThe Roger Scruton on Beauty

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