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Hemingway Among the Modernists: The Birth of Modernism

June 21, 2024

This is Part 2 (of 5) of my essay, “Hemingway Among the Modernists,” which was originally a lecture I gave at the request of the Hemingway Foundation on July 21, 2012. Modernism in the opening decades of the 20th century did not have the crisp outlines of the literary movement we see today. Maybe no literary […]

Hemingway Among the Modernists

May 22, 2024

This is Part 1 (of 5) of my essay, “Hemingway Among the Modernists,” which was originally a lecture I gave at the request of the Hemingway Foundation on July 21, 2012.

A Glimpse Inside Iron’s Keeping: A Story In Poems By A Vietnam Veteran

April 18, 2024

I’m pleased to offer a glimpse inside my new ebook, Iron’s Keeping, which tells the story — in poems — of my experience as a former U.S. Naval officer serving in Vietnam. It’s free to download for my newsletter subscribers. The ebook contains 13 poems first published, beautifully, in a private letterpress edition by Carol Blinn at Warwick Press […]

John Barr named to the Longlist for the 2024 PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection

April 10, 2024

John Barr was named to the long list of candidates identified as potential recipients of the 2024 PEN/Voelcker Award for a Poetry Collection. John Barr was cited for The Boxer of Quirinal, published by Red Hen Press. The award is designated for a poet “whose distinguished collection of poetry represents a notable and accomplished literary presence.” “I’m overjoyed […]

The Citizen at the End of the World, Part 2

March 27, 2024
A photo of Robert Frost

At the outset of my remarks I said that I would look more broadly at the subject of poetry and responsibility. For me, that starts with the question of poetry and personal responsibility, then moves to poetry and civic, or public, responsibility.

The Citizen at the End of the World, Part 1

March 6, 2024
Protestors holding signs. One sign reads "ENOUGH."

When we think of poets and their public speech today, we are likely to think of poetry as protest.

Sarah Lindsay: An Appreciation

February 22, 2024
Two white people holding hands. The woman, to the left, is wearing regalia associated with a graduation; the man to the left is wearing a collared button down with a navy suit over it.

What a moment it is, to find a poet whose work is unlike any other, and is so good that we pray the poetry gods will keep her safe and warm and grant her a long life of writing such poems for us. For me that moment was when I read her poems in Poetry magazine years ago.

Radios, Flying Machines, and Cinema

February 13, 2024
A stack of radios

In a letter written in April 1922 the poet Hart Crane posed a question to a friend: “Will radios, flying machines, and cinemas have such a great effect on poetry in the end?”

On Language and Dictionaries

January 24, 2024

The first law of language is that there are no laws of language. The laws of language are not the laws of the dictionary.

Eight Minutes Out

January 10, 2024

Just as Emily Dickinson wrote, “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.” I hope that this poem takes the top of your head off — metaphorically, of course!

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