Followers

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Q & A with Sam Hamill

Read MARGARET BIKMAN'S, TAKE FIVE

A short Q & A with Sam Hamill, founding editor of Copper Canyon in Port Townsend, poet, translator and founder of the nonprofit organization Poets Against the War, reads from his latest compilation of poems.


The Bellingham Herald

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Poetry In The News

This might be worth checking out.... Poetry inspired new Wallflowers album.

An interesting look at some changes in writer workshop models at 2005 Iyas Creative Writing Workshop in the Philippines. ... Putting the 'work' back into 'workshop'

The gap between J.K. Rowling's success and the attention afforded these 14 British women is mammoth... but their work is now in Early Modern Women’s Manuscript Poetry an anthology.

New Jersey student's life cut short by cancer in 1996 continues to have impact - Letting words fly -Student poetry café celebrates life


"If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." ~Toni Morrison

Amnesty International Takes Aim at U.S.

It is not especially surprising to me that Amnesty International's 2005 report accuses the United States as shirking its responsibility to set the bar for human rights protections and said the government has created a new lexicon for abuse and torture evidenced by the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

Independent reports by the Geneva-based ICRC have previously raised concerns. The ICRC has had access to the prison and is known to have expressed concerns to the U.S. Government.

The AI report cites "Attempts to dilute the absolute ban on torture through new policies and quasi-management speak, such as 'environmental manipulation, stress positions and sensory manipulation,' was one of the most damaging assaults on global values," and further called for the camp to be closed down.

AI admits these human rights deficiencies came with a rash of terrorist actions, including the televised beheadings of captives in Iraq, but says governments forget many victims in fight against terrorism.

It is worth noting there are many other violators the group pointed to in report. Sudan as one of the worst human rights violations this past year. Zimbabwe, Haiti, Bangladesh were also cited. As was China for forced abortions, Nepal for rapes committed by soldiers.

AI did point to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June to allow prisoners at Guantanamo challenge the basis of their detention as many of these individuals have been held for over three years with no formal charges.

visit the Amnesty International site at - link


Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Tuesday Night Meeting of KC Metro Verse

Our local chapters of the Missouri Poetry Society met tonight. Actually I belong to two chapters - this one is KC Metro Verse. It is one of the newest chapters and it has been very active with events and projects in it's short history.

We have been working on a project to release poetry books into the community in conjunction with an online project called bookcrossing.com. Tonight we put the book plate stickers in the books so they could be registered and then released at various locations around town. The concept is kind of cool - a little like where's George? Where you register dollar bills online against their serial number and track their movement.

Then we read some poetry as usual. Some of our own and or works by other poets.

Just for grins, I'll share some photos of the tonight's meeting. Yes, I have taken a little poetic liberty with two of the photos.

Scot Want To read NOW
Scot Isom - goes first.

bookcrossing

Getting books ready for their journey.



Pat's Advise

Wait! I think Pat Berge has something to say.

Poets Dot Org Re-Launches

Poets.org has Re-Launched. The site is the internet home of the Academy of American Poets. Besides a new overall look, the relaunched site has:
  • More poems
  • A new prose section with some 400 essays, interviews, etc.
  • Better poet biographies
  • Listening booth with many audio clips that is now both pc and mac friendly
  • Downloadable help for starting your own poetry reading club
  • National poetry almanac with 365 days worth of highlights
  • Discussion Forum has returned after a years hiatus
  • New section on writing with advise from legendary poets

This weeks highlights...

Spotlight Essay

Robert Creeley - Picking Up The Painting's Vibes

Spotlight Poet

Arthur Rimbaud - link

Spotlight Poem

Sylvia Plath's poem - Daddy

Monday, May 23, 2005

Com'on Dad - Put it right here!


Barry.kiss
Originally uploaded by stickpoet.
A very friendly Barry to go with the poem I posted recently.

Who or What is the Enemy?

I'd like to take a moment to call to the attention of others who have not seen it, a post by Eileen R. Tabios over at The Chatelaine's Poetics, titled ANTI-FEAR POETICS: MOUNTAIN OR MOLEHILL ON THE POST 9-1-1 TERRAIN?

Unquestionably, Eileen has a wit about her that even allows her to rant on serious topics and make her point. In her Sunday post, she has gone to great pains to make sure that her point is not taken too lightly and I think as we all have to do at time, nudge herself to make certain not to have fallen into the self-censoring mode.

As she states, "The ugly thing about all this Security shit... is that it generates paranoia, distrust, fear of speaking out, etc. I am doubling back to look at how I self-censored a rant and lapsed into humor. I don't like that about myself. I don't want to practice fear as part of my poetics -- it gets in the way of lucidity."

I'm not going to tell her story here... go read her post. There are so many aspects of the post 9-11 that are troubling to me as an American. She has touched on just a small bit of it, but a significantly important bit, none the less.