Salman Rushdie opens his NY Times tribute to Gabriel Garcia Marquez with the statement Gabo lives. Alongside the kerfuffle between Netanyahu and the newly united PLO-Hamas Palestinian leadership, Mahmoud Abbas this week made a statement in sympathy with survivors of... Read More

“I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center.” Kurt Vonnegut’s quote heralds the 10th annual PEN World... Read More

Susana H. Case‘s new book 4 Rms w Vu is out from Mayapple Press, another in Case’s line of sharply observed poetry collections that serve up her at times scathing insights with a playful sense of humor. An excellent recipe for a... Read More

If you’re anywhere near D.C. this coming weekend, you need to get over to the Human Rights Campaign Equality Forum, headquarters for Split This Rock’s festival of socially engaged writing. Featured poets include Franny Choi, Eduardo C. Corral, Joy Harjo,... Read More

Coming into Language is Jimmy Santiago Baca’s moving essay on self-created literacy, the emergence from struggle of a writer’s passion and voice, posted to PEN American Center. The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens,... Read More

Songbirds and lilac bushes are of the opinion spring is imminent on the north coast. The largest marketplace for guns is, according to the NY Times, Facebook. Hackaday Projects is showing taser-proof clothing. Wayne Dyer says you should do what comes... Read More

Dear Poet,  All work and no play makes Jack a dull, dull boy. Julia Cameron tells artists to take a day each week and refresh themselves. She calls this an Artist’s Date. We writers would do well to heed her... Read More

Dear Reader, Welcome to Curmudgeon’s Corner. From time to time I will post here the missives of fellow poet and all-around-opiner, Curmudgeon. Curmudgeon has no small opinions, and believes life is too short to curb one’s enthusiasm. Please don’t write... Read More

Booth 624 book signings for this year’s AWP book fair: Thursday 1 p.m., Mary Stone Dockery, Blink Finch; 2 p.m., Leah Umansky, Don Dreams and I Dream. Friday, 11 a.m., Kelly Fordon, Tell Me When it Starts to Hurt; and... Read More

Suzanne invited us to do a wompus reading at Mac’s Backs bookstore in Cleveland Heights on February 12th, a farewell of sorts to the neighborhood and all our literary friends here on the north coast. Along with wompus publisher, Sammy... Read More