CruelestMonth.com

Pocket of Fog

Billy Collins seen as the people's poet
More than 50 writers and musicians who work in the commercial fishing industry are set to gather in Astoria Feb.24 to 26, 2006 for the ninth annual Fisher Poets Gathering.
Here's a review from Verse on John Ashbery's Selected Prose. 

Point Taken

It seems our smarminess - which was provoked, by the way - has led to our being the butt of jokes on EyeballHatred (once again).  That's fine.  Our parents' shadow is a hard one to shake, and we're doing our best to evade harsher associations.  Also, I'll admit that "compulsively mean-spirited" was prematurely conceived on my part (It just had a ring to it).  But know this, it is not the Cruelest Month's intention to alienate the few people who actively support and love poetry.  We have resources, yes, but we'd like to put them to the best use for you.  That's all.   

For your perusal

• Patricia Fargnoli named Poet Laureate of New Hampshire.
• Robert Pinsky gauges "One kind of poetry [which] lives in that borderland between the ordinary and the dreamy, the banal and the mysterious, the grandiose and the squalid," more specifically,  Stephen Dobyns's "Alligator Dark" from his recent book Mystery, So Long.  (Note: Pinsky's translation of The Inferno has been a favorite of mine since high school.  Check it.)
• "Tap, Tap, Tap."  You're being watched.

After

"Attentiveness is what opens us into a conscious human experience, different from that of a tree or stone.  And yes, I do see the development of a continually deeper and more clarified and refining attentiveness as the path through which art and craft as well as life are more fully realized.  The realm of the poem is a small cosmos in which the large cosmos of our existence is also held.  For me, it's something like the Heraclitean formulation, 'As above, so below' - as in life, so in poems."
- From an interview with Jane Hirshfield.  We have her latest collection, After.

Simply Dumbfounded

Dumbfoundry, this is a great site full of news from the world of poetry.  Quite a bit of the news is related to poets and poetry in other countries so be sure to take a look.

Dylan Thomas Prize

Entries now being accepted for the Dylan Thomas Prize in a "race to reward young writers."  60,000 pounds is up for grabs, but you have to a be a published author under 30 to qualify.  If this means you, then hop on it.  If not, and you're like me, well...one day at a time, friend.

Poetry Expert Wanted

Picked this up from JW over at The Olive Reader:

The good folks (or rather, folk) at Encyclopedia Hanasiana are keeping an eye out for employment opportunities for those with a Ph.D. in poetry. Someone’s got to.

Thunderburst

Here you will find an interesting site full of poets, art, books, music, and blogs.  The site, maintained by Dee Rimbaud, has a great section of recommended poets by the numerous artists, poets, musicians, magazine editors and writers on Dee's mailing list.  Also, be sure and take a look at the AA Independent Press Guide.

No Tell Motel - The Bedside Guide

From the editors of the ever popular notellmotel.org  comes The Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel. Reb Livingston and Molly Arden have gathered poems that are naughty, exilerating, and stimulating. They push checkout time past noon, leave a tangle of damp sheets for the maid, and discretely sneak into the pool after dark. Some of the most potent poems are sure to linger in your mind...

Green Eyed Monster

Poetry on Gawker.com!  Believe it.  Thanks to the compulsively mean-spirited blogger responsible for EyeBall Hatred, the CruelestMonth.com has been mentioned on Gawker.  One may argue that our affiliation with HarperCollins and media conglomerate News Corp is the only reason Gawker would even mention us (and it's a good argument), but when else would a poetry blog  be mentioned on a website as highly trafficked as Gawker.  Never.  You're welcome.  Or thanks.  Whichever.

In any case, I hope our new friend Clayton at EyeBall Hatred (charming) will keep in touch and keep reading.  Thanks for your support!