Michael Allyn Wells

Thursday, August 12, 2004

New Poet Laureate for United States

Ted Kooser of Nebraska has been named poet laureate of United States. He replaces Pulitzer Prize winner Louise Gluck in the eight-month position. Is eight months really long enough for anyone to actually have an impact in this position?

Kooser's appointment is significant in that he is the first even from the Midwest. He has written 10 collections of poetry, the latest - Delights & Shadows, published this year.

Kooser will actually not replace Gluck till later this fall. [source]

Monday, August 09, 2004

From Sea To Shining Sea

Academy of American Poets selects National Poetry Landmarks

From a Berkeley Poetry Walk in Berkeley, CA to Emily Dickinson's home in Amherst, MA to Edna St. Vincent Millary's home in Camden ME and down to George Moses Horton's home in Chatham, NC with various points between... The Academy of American Poets has selected 31 landmarks that feature a taste of what has made American Poetry rich with regional diversity.

See the sites at poets.org

Friday, August 06, 2004

Lisa Jeffrey has a bit of Synesthesia

She describes it as the opposite of anesthesia, and says it means "joined sensation" of the senses.
Read about Lisa and her life and the way it has shaped her poetry in a recent piece in the Miami Herald

Thursday, August 05, 2004

Interdependence

Beside me
an empty glass
deprived by thirst
which has not yet
been placated.

Neither is complete
and in their current
deplorable state of pity
it is unlikely.

Monday, August 02, 2004

Let Them Eat Prozac

Oh this is rich.... Why don’t they get new jobs if they’re unhappy — or go on Prozac?” said Susan Sheybani, an assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt. source