© 2020 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
In high school, my classmate, Mary Kopala, had an older brother in college studying for a PhD in Engineering, if I remember correctly, and he brought the record album, The Fugs, home at Christmas for her to listen to. … Continue reading
© 2020 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… … I … … I will only write about books that are on my bookshelves now; if the book is not here, then I won’t mention it, so I won’t be mentioning books like The Idiot, which may have … Continue reading
© 2020 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… On September 13, 1955, Carl Van Vechten photographed the fairly well unknown James Baldwin who had just published his first collection of essays, Notes of a Native Son. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was already … Continue reading
© 2020 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… Bamboo Pavilion is a beautiful jewel of a book. Chinese poets like Du Fu and Li Bai are translated by Alfred Corn with paintings by the contemporary Chinese artist, Joanne Wang, the present and that past in a really … Continue reading
© 2020 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… A year ago I got in touch with Timothy Liu and asked if I could record him reading from his new book, Let It Ride, which was coming out in September. Well, one thing led to another, and we … Continue reading
© 2020 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… When I read the poems by Patricia Spears Jones in the latest issue of the Brooklyn Rail, I immediately got in touch with her and asked her if I could record her reading them for my blog. If not … Continue reading
© 2020 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… Jason Schneiderman’s new book, Hold Me Tight, has some striking violence on its cover yet is very comfortable to hold. It’s this oxymoron about the book that pleases me the most. Pleasing too is the fluid order of the … Continue reading
© 2020 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… In the early 1970s, poets began to memorize their poems so what was coming to the listener was coming from the poet, not from the page. Janet Hamill was one of the first to do this as much a … Continue reading
© 2020 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… Basil King focuses on the details that sparkle and create the most important events in an artist’s life. His new book, Disparate Beasts, is the history of a thousand pages condensed through poetry into one. Although he began as … Continue reading
© 2020 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… One of the tasks for an English teacher is to get students writing. I have found that putting students into groups to work on one paragraph together prepares them for writing on their own. Here are two lesson plans … Continue reading
© 2020 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… Bill Kushner and I used to meet and walk. On this August day, I met Bill at the F train at East Broadway, and we walked to Chrystie Street for a lunch special at the Bite of Hong Kong. … Continue reading
© 2020 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… In celebration of New York City’s parks and gardens, Felicia Young asked me to contribute to the annual Rites of Spring, which is usually held with costumes and a parade through the Lower East Side. This year because of … Continue reading