Poets and Artists (O&S) Self-Portrait Issue

by Bob Hicok, Pris Campbell, John Korn

This is a special edition of O&S featuring self-portraits.

Genres: Poetry

124 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Bob Hicok was born in 1960. His most recent collection, This Clumsy Living (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2007), was awarded the 2008 Bobbitt Prize from the Library of Congress. His other books are Insomnia Diary (Pitt, 2004), Animal Soul (Invisible Cities Press, 2001),a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, Plus Shipping (BOA, 1998), and The Legend of Light (University of Wisconsin, 1995), which received the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry and was named a 1997 ALA Booklist Notable Book of the Year. A recipient of three Pushcart Prizes, Guggenheim and two NEA Fellowships, his poetry has been selected for inclusion in five volumes of Best American Poetry.

Hicok writes poems that value speech and storytelling, that revel in the material offered by pop culture, and that deny categories such as "academic" or "narrative." As Elizabeth Gaffney wrote for the New York Times Book Review: "Each of Mr. Hicok's poems is marked by the exalted moderation of his voice—erudition without pretension, wisdom without pontification, honesty devoid of confessional melodrama. . . . His judicious eye imbues even the dreadful with beauty and meaning."

Hicok has worked as an automotive die designer and a computer system administrator, and is currently an Associate Professor of English at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

Reviews

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

More later but for now this is an issue of Poets and Artists that is very much a tribute to Didi Menendez' ingenuity. The Self Portraits of artists are excellent and easy to understand, but it is the self portraits by poets that are startling and insightful. A series of will-o-the-wisp thoughts that grab you later, after thinking, after smiling, and after the first run through. She even got those of us who review to come forward!
Grady Harp

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is an astonishing issue. i am rarely astonished.

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have three self-portrait poems in this issue, yay!

But it is just a great issue overall with multifaceted poetry and provocative visuals galore, plus very coherently edited!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poets AND artists-- need I say more! Such an electric issue!

There is perfection between these pages!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read as well as a must-see! Wonderful artwork and great poems from its beautiful beginning to its excellent end.

I especially enjoyed getting to see how the poets see themselves.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the magazine's most inspired themes, with poems that startle and linger. Some faves by Joseph P. Wood, Bob Hicok, Renee Zepeda, Barbara Jane Reyes, Ron Androla, and lots more. Memorable paintings and artwork by Stephen Wright, Janet Snell, Jeremy Baum, Francois Chartier, and Dan Murano.

[Kathy Kubik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am honored to have a poem of mine in this edition. The magazine is filled with stunning artwork and poems that are filled with imagery and raw emotions. There is a wonderful poem by Didi in here that made me feel it in my gut. Wonderful.