Category Archives: Books That Come My Way

Amy Barone reads from Defying Extinction

Travel, a trip somewhere new, or a return to a land you love, always restores body and soul. Poetry, like travel, can do that too. In fact, I was recently inspired reading Defying Extinction, a new book of poems by … Continue reading →

Alicia Ostriker reads from The Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog

21 Dec ’22

Alicia Ostriker’s The Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog begins with a quote by Gertrude Stein: A very important thing is not to make up your mind that you are any one thing. The Old Woman, the Tulip, and … Continue reading →

Jerome Sala reads from How Much?

19 Dec ’22

The first poem in How Much? questions the value of poetry. Why does that Urinal signed by Marcel Duchamp continue to go up in price while the poems of Frank O’Hara do not? while the other arts add valueto … Continue reading →

Pathetic Literature at Karma Books, a reading with Eileen Myles, 11/30/22

1 Dec ’22

I attended the reading for the anthology, Pathetic Literature, that had been organized by its editor, Eileen Myles at Karma Books on East Third Street near Avenue A. The place was packed. Besides Eileen, Jerome Sala, Sparrow, and Morgan Bassichis … Continue reading →

Jeff Wright reads from his Top Ten

1 Dec ’22

Last month, I saw Jeff Wright read at the Tompkins Square Library and really enjoyed the poems. He read from several of his books, and also a poem he had recently written. I asked him if I could come over … Continue reading →

A Reading at the Jefferson Market Library

21 Nov ’22

Last Saturday, when I attended a poetry reading at the Jefferson Market Library, I recorded the whole thing. My friend, the teacher and poet, Scott Hightower, had curated it and did the introductions as well. The poets, Skye Jackson, … Continue reading →

Anthony Cappo reads from When You’re Deep In A Thing

20 Nov ’22

I asked Anthony Cappo if I could record him reading from his new book, When You’re Deep In A Thing. Anthony is a born storyteller whose stories crystalize into poems that are personal and universal because they draw you … Continue reading →

Estha Weiner reads from This Insubstantial Pageant

19 Nov ’22

Estha Weiner and I were supposed to read together last summer in Brooklyn, but unfortunately I had to be out of the city. Last week, I was happy to hear Estha read at KGB from her new book, This Insubstantial … Continue reading →

Elliot, Cole & Gordon at Unnameable

12 Nov ’22

Lunar Chandelier Press put together a reading at Unnameable Books in early November. I brought my camcorder intent on recording the whole thing, which I did, and as you can see below. I’m afraid I was a little late … Continue reading →

john compton reads from the castration of a minor god

8 Nov ’22

Facebook is its own MFA program. When I wanted to be a poet back in the late 1960s, artists and writers gravitated to hip cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, to name just a few, but … Continue reading →

Maureen Owen reads from let the heart hold down the breakage Or the caregiver’s log

6 Nov ’22

When I arrived in NYC in the fall of 1979, one of the first things I did was to go to Saint Mark’s Church and join a poetry workshop at the Poetry Project. After all, poetry was why I’d come. … Continue reading →

Noah David Roberts reads from Final Girl Mythos

30 Oct ’22

When I was becoming an adolescent, as I felt my body change and get hairier it wasn’t odd to think that I could be a werewolf or a vampire. Saturdays I stayed up late to watch the classic horror movie … Continue reading →