- Table View
- List View
Word of Mouth: Gossip and American Poetry (Hopkins Studies in Modernism)
by Chad BennettThe first study of modern and contemporary poetry’s vibrant exchange with gossip.Can the art of gossip help us to better understand modern and contemporary poetry? Gossip’s ostensible frivolity may seem at odds with common conceptions of poetry as serious, solitary expression. But in Word of Mouth, Chad Bennett explores the dynamic relationship between gossip and American poetry, uncovering the unexpected ways that the history of the modern lyric intertwines with histories of sexuality in the twentieth century. Through nuanced readings of Gertrude Stein, Langston Hughes, Frank O’Hara, and James Merrill—poets who famously absorbed and adapted the loose talk that swirled about them and their work—Bennett demonstrates how gossip became a vehicle for alternative modes of poetic practice. By attending to gossip’s key role in modern and contemporary poetry, he recognizes the unpredictable ways that conventional understandings of the modern lyric poem have been shaped by, and afforded a uniquely suitable space for, the expression of queer sensibilities.Evincing an ear for good gossip, Bennett presents new and illuminating queer contexts for the influential poetry of these four culturally diverse poets. Word of Mouth establishes poetry as a neglected archive for our thinking about gossip and contributes a crucial queer perspective to current lyric studies and its renewed scholarly debate over the status and uses of the lyric genre.
Word of Mouth: Poems Featured on NPR's All Things Considered
by Catherine BowmanStarting in 1995, NPR's All Things Considered began presenting poets reading their own works. Introduced by "poetry DJ" Catherine Bowman, these popular short segments allowed listeners to experience poetry as a kind of verbal music, recalling its roots as a spoken art form. Word of Mouth, edited by Bowman, brings together the poems that have been featured on NPR, providing a window onto the dynamic contemporary poetry scene. A child playing with flashes of sunlight in the aisle of an airplane; a woman describing tropical fruit to someone in a faraway country; a man building a deck with his dead father's hammer; the musings of a Barbie doll participating in a 12-step program: these poems powerfully and lyrically transform the stuff of every day life. A celebration of the poetic voice that includes 33 acclaimed writers, this vibrant anthology proves beyond any doubt that poetry is far more than just words on paper. Quincy Troupe * Czeslaw Milosz * Campbell McGrath * C. D. Wright * Jack Gilbert * Heather McHugh * David Lehman * Wang Ping * Joseph Brodsky * Paul Beatty * Lorna Dee Cervantes * Paul Muldoon * Lucille Clifton * Naomi Shihab Nye * Richard Blanco * Albert Goldbarth * Carrie Allen McCray * Belle Waring * Russell Edson * Kevin Young * Nuali Di Dhomhnaill * Charles Harper Webb * Denise Duhamel * Yusef Komunyakaa * Hal Sirowitz * Lucia Perillo * Amy Gerstler * Maura Stanton * Marilyn Chin * Philip Booth * Jane Cooper * Diane DiPrima * Elizabeth Spires
Word Unheard: A Guide Through Eliot's Four Quartets
by Harry BlamiresEliot’s Four Quartets is arguably the finest long poem in modern English literature. It is also one that presents considerable problems of interpretation. In Word Unheard, first published in 1969, Blamires aims to unravel some of these problems by guiding the reader line by line through the poem, blending paraphrase with commentary. Blamires pays particular attention to the philosophical and theological dimensions of the poem and to its multifarious personal, historical and literary allusions. This title will be of interests to students of literature.
Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution
by Alix Olson Eve EnslerFemale spoken word artists have become the spokeswomen for a new generation. This demanding oral poetry of the early 21st century has defined a vanguard of lithely muscled voices; women who think and act decisively to create their distinctive and desperately earned realities. The combination of the eminent slam movement and the upsurge of bold underground feminism has created a unique pool of women who verbally challenge society on all fronts.Editor Alix Olson (internationally touring spoken word artist-activist) brought together a variety of astounding spoken word artists for Word Warriors. Included in this collection are Patricia Smith and Eileen Myles, two of our most formidable spoken-word foremothers, Tony-award winners Sarah Jones, Suheir Hammad and Staceyann Chin, recording artists Bitch and Lynn Breedlove from the dyke-punk band Tribe 8, award-winning writer Michelle Tea, and many more. These women join other amazing artists from many different backgrounds to create Word Warriors, a powerful and comprehensive collection of work from the best and brightest female spoken word artists today.
Words
by Arnold MatthewsThe author, Arnold Matthews, hopes you will find in this package of his written works of poetry, much pleasure. The poetry is addressed to all faiths and none, to all gender orientations and to Humanitarians. Of course, not all poetry appeals to everyone but as stated in the Doctor’s Magazine ‘The Lancet’, it says that the right sort of poetry can be very therapeutic. It is for the reader to judge if this is the ‘right sort of poetry’. The author invites the recipients of his work to select the material to which they can personally relate, and perhaps re-read from time to time, so that like a song, the impact of new concepts will be revealed and will bring growing joy and understanding, even revelation to the reader.
Words Before Dawn: Poems
by William WentheWilliam Wenthe's third collection begins in the domestic realm then moves outward in subject and place -- to a bird market in Paris, the Jaffa Gate in Old Jerusalem, the Chain Bridge in Budapest -- before returning to the familial. The poet recalls his own cherished experiences of fatherhood: rocking his infant daughter in the early morning, lying with her outside on a pink flannel sheet, and watching her joyous reaction to the sight of roses. While actively engaged in the artist's struggle to represent reality, Wenthe draws attention to the particular, to moments and events that seem to exist beyond thoughts and words. In "Uhte," Wenthe reflects on the Old English name for the hour before dawn: "that word / has haunted me -- wondering how that hour / had first called forth a need / to be distinguished by a sound."In well-crafted free verse, traditional meter and rhyme, prose poems, and nonce forms, Wenthe meditates on family, language, art, history, and the natural world, striving to find words to capture the richness of life.
Words for Empty and Words for Full
by Bob HicokBob Hicok is associate professor of English at Virginia Tech University. He is the author of This Clumsy Living, Insomnia Diary, Animal Soul (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, ) Plus Shipping, and The Legend of Light. Hicok is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, two NEA Fellowships, the Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Poetry Prize from the Library of Congress, the Felix Pollak Prize, the Jerome J. Shestack Prize, and four Pushcart Prizes. His poems have appeared in five volumes of Best American Poetry
Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke
by Theodore RoethkeA collection of the Northwest poet's work up until 1958, which won the National Book Award in 1959. Roethke taught poetry and writing at the University of Washington.
Words for Trees
by Barbara FolkartIn this Ottawa writer’s first volume of verse, there are trees, of coursecatalpas on stained-glass transoms, an ever-present crabappel, nameless species in whose bare branches the winter solstice lurks. There is music, tooa whorehouse tango, a string quartet enthralling a favourite cat, the silky caress of a clarinet along the remembered flesh of adolescence. And visual art, from the Middle Ages through Matisse, is reenacted in vignettes of desire or dereliction.
Words From the Garden: A Collection of Beautiful Poetry, Prose and Quotations
by Isobel CarlsonThis beautiful collection of poetry and prose through the seasons rhapsodises on the spectacle of colour and everything green and flourishing in the garden. The perfect book for a moment’s reflection, whether you are cooped up on a rainy day in your potting shed or admiring the fruits of your labour on a sunny evening from the pergola.
Words From the Garden: A Collection of Beautiful Poetry, Prose and Quotations
by Isobel CarlsonThis beautiful collection of poetry and prose through the seasons rhapsodises on the spectacle of colour and everything green and flourishing in the garden. The perfect book for a moment’s reflection, whether you are cooped up on a rainy day in your potting shed or admiring the fruits of your labour on a sunny evening from the pergola.
Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence Between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell
by Elizabeth Bishop Robert LowellRobert Lowell once remarked in a letter to Elizabeth Bishop that "you ha[ve] always been my favorite poet and favorite friend." The feeling was mutual. Bishop said that conversation with Lowell left her feeling "picked up again to the proper table-land of poetry," and she once begged him, "Please never stop writing me letters—they always manage to make me feel like my higher self (I've been re-reading Emerson) for several days." Neither ever stopped writing letters, from their first meeting in 1947 when both were young, newly launched poets until Lowell's death in 1977. Presented in Words in Air is the complete correspondence between Bishop and Lowell. The substantial, revealing—and often very funny—interchange that they produced stands as a remarkable collective achievement, notable for its sustained conversational brilliance of style, its wealth of literary history, its incisive snapshots and portraits of people and places, and its delicious literary gossip, as well as for the window it opens into the unfolding human and artistic drama of two of America's most beloved and influential poets.
Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam
by Cristin O'Keefe AptowiczWords in Your Face traces the rich history of slam poetry through the lens of the New York City scene that pioneered it. Author Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz situates New York slam poetry in the history of oral tradition in poetry throughout history and around the world, with particular attention to the three major 20th century arts movements that helped set the stage for it: the Harlem Renaissance, the Beats, and hip hop. Aptowicz explores the birth of slam at the Nuyorican Poets’ Café and the genre’s explosive growth as the media responded with events like Lollapalooza and MTV’s Unplugged. The book expands the canvas by examining the connections between academia and slammers, especially the poets of color, the youth slammers, and the burgeoning hip hop poetry scene. Interviews with key players like Chicago’s Marc Smith and San Francisco’s Gary Mex Glazner help tell this fascinating story from the inside.
Words like Thunder: New and Used Anishinaabe Prayers (Made in Michigan Writers Series)
by Lois BeardsleeWords like Thunder: New and Used Anishinaabe Prayers is a collection of poetry by award-winning Ojibwe author Lois Beardslee. Much of the book centers around Native people of the Great Lakes but has a universal relevance to modern indigenous people worldwide. Beardslee tackles contemporary topics like climate change and socioeconomic equality with a grace and readability that empowers readers and celebrates the strengths of today’s indigenous peoples. She transforms the mundane into the sacred. Similar in style to Nikki Giovanni, Beardslee might lure in readers with the promise of traditional cultural material, even stereotypes, before quickly pivoting toward a direction of respect for the contemporaneity and adaptability of indigenous people’s tenacious hold on traditions. Made up of four sections, the book is like a piece of artwork. Parts of the word-canvas are quiet so the reader can rest and other parts lead the reader quickly from one place to another, while always maintaining eye contact. More than anything, Beardslee emphasizes the notion that indigenous peoples are competent and wonderful, worthy of praise, and whose modernity is a function of their survival. She writes unapologetically with a strong ethnic identity as a woman of color who witnessed and experienced community loss of resources that defined her culture. Her stories transcend generations, time, and geographical boundaries—varying in voice between first person or that of her elders or children—resulting in a collective appeal. Beardslee continues to break the mold and push the boundaries of contemporary Native American poetry and prose. This book will appeal to a general readership, to people who want to learn more about indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes, and to people who care about the environment and socioeconomic equality. Even young readers, especially students of color, will find parts of this book to which they can relate.
Words of a Goat Princess
by Jessie ReyezA moving poetic debut from a talented artist, Words of a Goat Princess is everything you love about singer/songwriter Jessie Reyez—her rawness, her love affair with the ugly truths of humanity, and so much more.Words of a Goat Princess is the debut poetry collection about life’s struggle and triumphs from Grammy-nominated and JUNO-award winning songwriter Jessie Reyez.With the authenticity and heartbreaking relatability that her fans know and love her for, Reyez brings the breadth of her lived experience to the page as few recording artists can. At times ethereal and visceral, these 43 poems are carefully painted moments that expertly explore love, loss, and identity with an artistry that leaps off the page with every turn.Through this collection of poems and stories, Jessie Reyez shows that she is more than a pop performer, she is a true artist whose star knows no limits.
Words of Life: Poems and Essays
by Ann ChiappettaIn this new collection of poems, essays, and flash fiction, the author once again exhibits her ability to write about both the light and dark sides of life. There are numerous poems and stories about nature: its kindness, cruelty, and wonder. There are frank expressions of the sadness and frustration she felt at the progressive loss of her eyesight and a poem about the social isolation that disability can bring. Other pieces, though, sing of joys as diverse as family closeness, the love of dogs, the delights of scents, and the power of the muse. Just as in her first volume of poetry, Upwelling: Poems (2016), there is no fluff here. To read Ann Chiappetta’s works is to feel them deeply, appreciate them mightily, and remember them forever. From the IntroductionWhile it is my hope that all the pieces in this book resonate with my readers, I have my favorites. Some of the poems have been previously published; all reflect what lies within. This volume is accented with a few photographs. As I lose the last vestiges of my vision, bringing a meaningful visual array to this collection seems imperative. Finally, dear reader, I want to share the prose that reflects the way I’ve lived my creative life. If just one poem or essay resonates with you, I have accomplished the purpose. For a moment, as the eye reads and the brain interprets, the reader slips into the shoes of the writer. This is the true spirit of what it means to be creative, open, to offer the emotions in such a way as to give another person the opportunity to appreciate the writer’s experience with the words of life.
Words of Poetic Verse, Volume Two (Feelings, Thoughts, and Words)
by Jim M. Mcclellan[From the back cover and the Forward] The journey continues ...come along and surrender yourself as you are creatively caressed and cradled by the feelings, thoughts and words of Jim M. McClellan. The feelings will move you, the thoughts will make you wonder, and the words will be your own. This, the second stop in the journey, Words of Poetic Verse, is sure to please both the heart and mind. In today's complex world we tend to forget that it is the simplest words that oftentimes arouse the very deepest of thoughts and emotions. Words of Poetic Verse: Volume Two is a continuation of the author's lifelong journey to the depths of love, heartache, happiness, and despair. The modest poetic sharing of his experiences and knowledge acquired along the way have given me a source of insight, wisdom, acceptance, and strength. May you, the reader, also be touched and inspired by this young man's Feelings, Thoughts, and Words. Carole Kaminski-Petrungar
Words That Burn
by Josephine HartFollowing the success of CATCHING LIFE BY THE THROAT, Josephine Hart compiles more poetry from the like of such poets as Milton, Byron, Keats, Shelley, Browning, Frost and Lowell. Read by a dazzling cast of actors including Eileen Atkins, Nancy Carroll, Alan Cox, Charles Dance, Joanna David, Lindsay Duncan, Edward Fox, Emilia Fox, Robert Hardy, Tom Hollander, Jeremy Irons, Felicity Kendall, Elizabeth McGovern, Mark Strong, Dominic West, Greg Wise
The Words We Keep
by Erin StewartA beautifully realistic, relatable story about mental health and the healing powers of friendship and art, perfect for fans of Kathleen Glasgow's Girl in Pieces and Jennifer Niven&’s All the Bright Places. 'Gorgeous and deeply touching.' – Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces and You'd Be Home Now 'Wild, beautiful, and free. The Words We Keep is a poetic page turner. A raw, relatable story of mental illness, romance, and the power of love.' – Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places It&’s been two months since the Night on the Bathroom Floor – when Lily found her sister, Alice, hurting herself. Now Alice is coming home after treatment and it&’s getting harder for Lily to outrun the compulsive thoughts she's having. Meeting Micah, a guy with a troubled past of his own, the pair embark on a poetry project that helps Lily to see that the words she&’s been holding back, desperately want to break through. But what will Micah think if he finds out who she really is? 'A sprawling, engrossing read' – Kirkus Reviews 'A luminous exploration into the restorative power of love and art.' – Jeff Zentner, Morris Award–winning author of In the Wild Light
Words with Wings
by Nikki GrimesGaby daydreams to tune out her parents' arguments, but when her parents divorce and she begins a new school, daydreaming gets her into trouble. Her mother scolds her for it, her teacher keeps telling her to pay attention, and the other kids tease her...until she finds a friend who also daydreams and her teacher decides to work a daydreaming-writing session into every school day. With a notebook "thick with daydreams," Gaby grows more confident about herself and her future. This verse novel poignantly celebrates the power of writing and the inspiration a good teacher can deliver.
Words Without Borders: The World Through the Eyes of Writers
by Alane Salierno Mason Dedi Felman Samantha Schnee Andre Dubus IIIFeaturing the work of more than 28 writers from upwards of 20 countries, Words without Borders: The World through the Eyes of Writers transports us to the frontiers of the new literature for the twenty-first century. In these pages, some of the most accomplished writers in world literature--among them Edwidge Danticat, Ha Jin, Cynthia Ozick, Javier Marias, and Nobel laureates Wole Soyinka, Günter Grass, Czeslaw Milosz, Wislawa Szymborska, and Naguib Mahfouz--have stepped forward to introduce us to dazzling literary talents virtually unknown to readers of English. Most of their work--short stories, poems, essays, and excerpts from novels--appears here in English for the first time. The Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman introduces us to a story of extraordinary poise and spiritual intelligence by the Argentinian writer Juan Forn. The Romanian writer Norman Manea shares with us the sexy, sinister, and thrillingly avant garde fiction of his homeland's leading female novelist. The Indian writer Amit Chaudhuri spotlights the Bengali writer Parashuram, whose hilarious comedy of manners imagines what might have happened if Britain had been colonized by Bengal. And Roberto Calasso writes admiringly of his fellow Italian Giorgio Manganelli, whose piece celebrates the Indian city of Madurai. Every piece here--be it from the Americas, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, or the Caribbean--is a discovery, a colorful thread in a global weave of literary exchange. Edited by Samantha Schnee, Alane Salierno Mason, and Dedi Felman.
Words Written Against the Walls of the City: Poems
by Bruce BondBruce Bond’s new collection, Words Written Against the Walls of the City, confronts problems of collectivity and individual freedom in ways that bring the historical into conjunction with the personal details of everyday lives. This luminous work approaches cities, real and symbolic, as both metaphors for and embodiments of the social self, inescapably embedded in a contemporary world and yet removed, summoned by the same technical connectivity that conspires to pull us further apart, one from another. In the end, Bond’s assured verse reveals how a sense of some communal whole inspires its share of indebtedness and awe in an individual’s efforts to navigate the environments that enfold us.
Wordsworth: Poems (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series)
by William WordsworthOf all the lasting innovations that William Wordsworth (1770-1850) brought to our literature, it is his discovery of nature and his fresh vision of human lives in the context of nature that have most influenced our cultural climate. Here, collected in this volume, are Wordsworth's finest works, some of the most beautiful poems ever written: from the famous lyrical ballads, including "The Tables Turned" and "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey," to the sonnets and narrative poems, to excerpts from his magnum opus, The Preludes. By turning away from mythological subjects and artificial diction toward the life and language around him, Wordsworth acquired for poetry the strength and new sources of inspiration that have allowed it to survive and flourish in the modern world.
Wordsworth and Beginnings of Modern Poetry (RLE: Wordsworth and Coleridge)
by Robert RehderFirst published in 1981, this study sees Wordsworth’s work as part of the continuous European struggle to come to terms with consciousness. The author pays particular attention to Wordsworth’s style and investigates the unstated and unconscious assumptions of that style. He discusses the conflicting feelings that shaped Wordsworth’s changing conception of The Recluse, offers a new interpretation of his classification of his poems and examines the meaning of one of his favourite images — the panoramic view of a valley filled with mist. While the emphasis is on Wordsworth’s greatness as a poet, the book stresses the importance of significance of his relation to European literature and poetry.
Wordsworth and Coleridge: Lyrical Ballads
by John BladesWritten in an age of revolutions, Lyrical Ballads represents a radical new way of thinking - not only about literature but also about our fundamental perceptions of the world. The poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge continues to be among the most appealing and challenging in the rich tradition of English Literature; and Lyrical Ballads, composed at the height of the young authors' creative powers, is now widely acclaimed as a landmark in literary history. In this lively study, detailed analysis of individual poems is closely grounded in the literary, political and historical contexts in which Lyrical Ballads was first conceived, realised and subsequently expanded into two volumes. John Blades examines poetry from both volumes and carefully reassesses the poems in the light of Wordsworth's and Coleridge's revolutionary theories, while Part II of the study broadens the discussion by tracing the critical history of Lyrical Ballads over the two centuries since its first publication. Providing students with the critical and analytical skills with which to approach the poems, and offering guidance on further study, this stimulating book is essential reading.