John Ashbery

John Ashbery: A Pageant

September 9, 2013

John Ashbery: A Pageant

By Andrew Field

Characters:Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, W.H. Auden, James Merril, Robert Lowell

Sep
09
2013
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Characters:Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, W.H. Auden, James Merril, Robert Lowell

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“The Imminence of a Revelation Not Yet Produced”: Ashbery and the Pragmatist Sublime

June 24, 2013

“The Imminence of a Revelation Not Yet Produced”: Ashbery and the Pragmatist Sublime

By Andrew Field

“The imminence of a revelation not yet produced” is a remarkable formulation for describing the process of the future unfolding, and it is what I hope to signify by the term the “pragmatist sublime.”

Jun
24
2013
Thumbnail image for “The Imminence of a Revelation Not Yet Produced”: Ashbery and the Pragmatist Sublime

“The imminence of a revelation not yet produced” is a remarkable formulation for describing the process of the future unfolding, and it is what I hope to signify by the term the “pragmatist sublime.”

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13 Ways of Looking at the Pragmatist Ashbery, OR Getting Down to the Nitty-Gritty: Ashbery and the Central Doctrine of American Pragmatism

November 19, 2012

13 Ways of Looking at the Pragmatist Ashbery, OR Getting Down to the Nitty-Gritty: Ashbery and the Central Doctrine of American Pragmatism

By Andrew Field

So what are some other major facets of Ashbery’s relationship to American pragmatism?

Nov
19
2012
Thumbnail image for 13 Ways of Looking at the Pragmatist Ashbery, OR Getting Down to the Nitty-Gritty: Ashbery and the Central Doctrine of American Pragmatism

So what are some other major facets of Ashbery’s relationship to American pragmatism?

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“This Was the First Day / Of the New Experience”: Notes Towards a Pragmatist Reading of Ashbery’s Poetry and Poetics, Part I

November 12, 2012

“This Was the First Day / Of the New Experience”: Notes Towards a Pragmatist Reading of Ashbery’s Poetry and Poetics, Part I

By Andrew Field

I want to start with a problem: an overwhelming, close to paralyzing sense that an essay about John Ashbery’s poetry is like a representational critique of a cubist painting.

Nov
12
2012
Thumbnail image for “This Was the First Day / Of the New Experience”: Notes Towards a Pragmatist Reading of Ashbery’s Poetry and Poetics, Part I

I want to start with a problem: an overwhelming, close to paralyzing sense that an essay about John Ashbery’s poetry is like a representational critique of a cubist painting.

Read the full article →

Poem of the Week: Paul Legault

December 16, 2011

Poem of the Week: Paul Legault

By Zachary Pace

[River 2]

Dec
16
2011
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[River 2]

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A Language Poet You’ll Enjoy Reading

January 7, 2011

A Language Poet You’ll Enjoy Reading

By Brooks Lampe

Add Clark Coolidge to the list of great American poets that nobody is talking about.

Jan
07
2011
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Add Clark Coolidge to the list of great American poets that nobody is talking about.

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Department of Records

October 11, 2010

Department of Records

By Alfred Corn

When the young woman of twenty-five notices faint lines around the mouth or tiny crowsfeet at the corner of her eyes, something even more intimate than vanity makes her stop to reflect. The script for her very own mortality play, written on the finest parchment, has begun to develop, nor does she need any special clairvoyance to divine the final act from the first.

Oct
11
2010
Thumbnail image for Department of Records

When the young woman of twenty-five notices faint lines around the mouth or tiny crowsfeet at the corner of her eyes, something even more intimate than vanity makes her stop to reflect. The script for her very own mortality play, written on the finest parchment, has begun to develop, nor does she need any special clairvoyance to divine the final act from the first.

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“The Invisible Avant-Garde”

May 28, 2010

“The Invisible Avant-Garde”

By Adam Fitzgerald

May
28
2010
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Terrible Eyes: On a Newly Discovered Photograph of Arthur Rimbaud

April 18, 2010

Terrible Eyes: On a Newly Discovered Photograph of Arthur Rimbaud

By Adam Fitzgerald

I followed deadpan Rivers down and down,
And knew my haulers had let go the ropes.
Whooping redskins took my men as targets
And nailed them nude to technicolour posts.

Apr
18
2010

I followed deadpan Rivers down and down,
And knew my haulers had let go the ropes.
Whooping redskins took my men as targets
And nailed them nude to technicolour posts.

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Some David Schubert Poems You May Not Know

April 2, 2010

Some David Schubert Poems You May Not Know

By Allison Power

I reached a point where there was no
Use going on: my companion said, “Do not waken
The watchman, do not shout, he will die
Of shock if you make the slightest
Sound.” I stood in the utter darkness,
Cold. Without evidence of myself.

Apr
02
2010
Thumbnail image for Some David Schubert Poems You May Not Know

I reached a point where there was no
Use going on: my companion said, “Do not waken
The watchman, do not shout, he will die
Of shock if you make the slightest
Sound.” I stood in the utter darkness,
Cold. Without evidence of myself.

Read the full article →
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Paparazzi

March 20, 2010

Paparazzi

By Adam Fitzgerald

“When we define the Photograph as a motionless image, this does not mean only that the figures it represents do not move; it means that they do not emerge, do not leave: they are anesthetized and fastened down, like butterflies.”

Mar
20
2010

“When we define the Photograph as a motionless image, this does not mean only that the figures it represents do not move; it means that they do not emerge, do not leave: they are anesthetized and fastened down, like butterflies.”

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The Flaming Poodle of the Mind: Poetry Readings, Vaudeville & Louise Gluck’s Legs

March 16, 2010

The Flaming Poodle of the Mind: Poetry Readings, Vaudeville & Louise Gluck’s Legs

By Joe Weil

If I am anything at all, I am a vaudevillian. Considering that vaudville has been stone dead the last 80 years, that’s a hard thing to be, but wouldn’t you want to attend a reading where, first, someone read Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” beautifully, followed by a white poodle jumping through a fiery hula hoop, then a great tap dancer, and then a good torch singer doing “Strange Fruit,” topped off by a rousing version of Etheridge Knight’s “All Fucked Up”?

Mar
16
2010
Thumbnail image for The Flaming Poodle of the Mind: Poetry Readings, Vaudeville & Louise Gluck’s Legs

If I am anything at all, I am a vaudevillian. Considering that vaudville has been stone dead the last 80 years, that’s a hard thing to be, but wouldn’t you want to attend a reading where, first, someone read Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” beautifully, followed by a white poodle jumping through a fiery hula hoop, then a great tap dancer, and then a good torch singer doing “Strange Fruit,” topped off by a rousing version of Etheridge Knight’s “All Fucked Up”?

Read the full article →

To Make Bach the Grund of Grundrisse and the Chaconne of a Shocked Shack

March 15, 2010

To Make Bach the Grund of Grundrisse and the Chaconne of a Shocked Shack

By David Shapiro

Today I thought I should add my secret voice to your evaluations.
Your intelligence may be genius, but remember as my mother saids also always to be nice.
A seventh grade teacher consoled me when I was teased:
You can always tell the genius by the enemies who surround him.

Mar
15
2010
Thumbnail image for To Make Bach the Grund of Grundrisse and the Chaconne of a Shocked Shack

Today I thought I should add my secret voice to your evaluations.
Your intelligence may be genius, but remember as my mother saids also always to be nice.
A seventh grade teacher consoled me when I was teased:
You can always tell the genius by the enemies who surround him.

Read the full article →

Seventeen Years Ago Last March: Elizabeth Bishop’s Grand Finale

March 6, 2010

Seventeen Years Ago Last March: Elizabeth Bishop’s Grand Finale

By Adam Fitzgerald

‘Crusoe in England’ was first published in The New Yorker in 1971, then later collected in ‘Geography III,’ perhaps Bishop’s finest single volume of poems. (Only recently I discovered the title of which was suggested to her by John Ashbery. He had found a little geography textbook of the eponymous name, and sent it to her, thinking she’d rather enjoy it. Turns out, she did.)

Mar
06
2010
Thumbnail image for Seventeen Years Ago Last March: Elizabeth Bishop’s Grand Finale

‘Crusoe in England’ was first published in The New Yorker in 1971, then later collected in ‘Geography III,’ perhaps Bishop’s finest single volume of poems. (Only recently I discovered the title of which was suggested to her by John Ashbery. He had found a little geography textbook of the eponymous name, and sent it to her, thinking she’d rather enjoy it. Turns out, she did.)

Read the full article →

Blogging through Grossman, Part 3: Poetic Promiscuity.

March 2, 2010

Blogging through Grossman, Part 3: Poetic Promiscuity.

By Micah Towery

We recent poets have two great tools at our disposal: freedom of poetic license, and freedom of publishing. Generally, we can say whatever we want, and get a significant number of people to hear what we have to say. The question is whether this freedom has led to better poetry or degeneration. Perhaps that’s not the best way to put it. The question should be, even if somebody is doing something amazing and new in poetry, would we even see it? Will we travel all this way to find that we really did need the gatekeepers of poetry??

Mar
02
2010
Thumbnail image for Blogging through Grossman, Part 3: Poetic Promiscuity.

We recent poets have two great tools at our disposal: freedom of poetic license, and freedom of publishing. Generally, we can say whatever we want, and get a significant number of people to hear what we have to say. The question is whether this freedom has led to better poetry or degeneration. Perhaps that’s not the best way to put it. The question should be, even if somebody is doing something amazing and new in poetry, would we even see it? Will we travel all this way to find that we really did need the gatekeepers of poetry??

Read the full article →