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Book Blog - Likely Stories, by Keir Graff - Booklist Online

Likely Stories

A Booklist Blog
Keir Graff and editors from Booklist's adult and youth departments write candidly about books, book reviewing, and the publishing industry

Archive for the 'Poetry' Category

Tue, March 24th, 2009
Getting Even
Posted by: Laura

Just because I was the last one picked for dodgeball doesn’t mean I don’t have a competitive nature, and I’m totally bummed that no one invited me to the Booklist editors’ gaming session at Jake’s (see the “Dark & Stormy Afternoon“ posts for more info).
So rather than get mad, I’m getting even. To distract Likely Stories readers from the play-by-play of [...]


Fri, March 20th, 2009
Seamus Heaney Wins David Cohen Prize…
Posted by: Courtney

…And £40,000 for a lifetime of excellence in literature and being awesome. David Cohen Prize Judges’ Chair Andrew Motion said it better:
“[Heaney's work has] crystallised the story of our times, in language which has bravely and memorably continued to extend its imaginative reach”, and for his critical writing, his translations and his lecturing, which “have [...]


Tue, March 17th, 2009
Do Androids Dream of Moons in June?
Posted by: Keir

Computer “archaeologist” David Ward has unearthed a software program from the early days of the Cold War that does something much more deadly than target missiles: it writes poetry. Badly. (”World’s First Computer Was Used to Generate Love Poetry,” by Nigel Bunyan, Telegraph.) Visit the Manchester Mark I emulator if you dare–and don’t say I [...]


Fri, February 20th, 2009
You got your poegel in my wovel!
Posted by: Keir

First wovels and now poegels. I’m pretty sure the poegels won’t end up in p-books, however. Bear in mind that poegels are essentially something William S. Burroughs used to do with paper, scissors, and glue–which sounds like a lot more fun.
And here’s Annie Dillard’s take, which, again, didn’t require the internet. (Thanks, Donna!)
I hereby announce the “e-nopoemsaygle,” a [...]


Wed, February 4th, 2009
Poetic Justice
Posted by: Keir

More video. You are no doubt aware of our disgraced ex-governor’s penchant for poesy (see “Blagojevich’s Poetry Obsession Explained,” by Russell Goldman, ABC News)–naturally, it’s perfect for parody.

Jason Sudeikis’ Chicago-guy accent doesn’t do justice to Blagojevich’s way of talking, but what the heck. It’s funnier than the real deal’s appearance on the Late Show last night, [...]


Tue, January 27th, 2009
Elizabeth Alexander Tells Stephen Colbert about the Truth
Posted by: Keir

I feel like one of those news anchors who follows a bus crash story with a humorous segment on a waterskiing squirrel, but–in case you missed Stephen Colbert telling Elizabeth Alexander that he literally has a mountain in his pants:


Tue, January 20th, 2009
A Chapbook Is Preferrable to Chapped Lips
Posted by: Keir

Barack Obama: the forty-fourth president of the United States of America.
Elizabeth Alexander: the fourth poet to read at a U.S. president’s inauguration.
Graywolf Press will be releasing Alexander’s poem, “Praise Song for the Day,” as a chapbook on February 6. Which is good, because, in this humble scribe’s opinion, the poem works better on the page than [...]


Wed, December 17th, 2008
Eggheads Have Egg on Face
Posted by: Keir

The poetry beat is getting more and more seedy. From The Independent (”Chinese ‘classical poem’ was brothel ad,” by Clifford Coonan):
There were red faces on the editorial board of one of Germany’s top scientific institutions, the Max Planck Institute, after it ran the text of a handbill for a Macau strip club on the front page of its [...]


Tue, December 16th, 2008
That’s One Way to Mark the Burns Sesquibicentennial
Posted by: Keir

The poetry beat ain’t always pretty. From the Guardian (”Two new Burns poems discovered,” by Alison Flood):
His love might have been like a red red rose, but it turns out that Robert Burns may also have been suffering from a rather nasty STD, according to a collection of explicit writing apparently by Scotland’s national bard, [...]


Thu, December 4th, 2008
I’m Still Waiting for Someone to Invent Beef Jerky Incense
Posted by: Keir

Though I try to keep an eye on the poetry beat, my efforts are woefully inadequate. Today I’ll do better. In Donna Seaman’s review of Kevin Coval’s Everyday People in the December 1 issue of Booklist, it caught my eye when Donna noted that the white, Jewish, suburban-raised hip-hop poet’s works contain “beef jerky and sandalwood incense.” And if [...]





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