Rodney Koeneke's Blog, page 25
July 13, 2009
Doubled Whisper
"It will be seen eventually that this whole memoir, with its talk of Communes and revolutions, will be about integrity: that is, political, philosophical, social, poetic and spiritual integrity, for they are all intertwined, and all will have to incorporate a vivid sense of what our own death will mean to our ideals—how rich a story it makes." —Douglas Oliver, Whisper 'Louise'
July 10, 2009
Word of the Day
July 8, 2009
Poets in Contest
What poetry needs is its own game show. A show staged like a cage match, where two prominent poets face off with their best material. It should open with a Baroque quartet, be hosted by a suave & brainy "cool professor" type with good hair, and include a slinky Vanna White who draws alphabet blocks from a velvet bag to see who goes first. The poets should sit in puffy chairs, wear vivid colors and glasses on neck chains, and look indifferent to the air time. Wait … 
July 6, 2009
Distinguishing the Boroughs
Kevin Killian on Charles Bernstein, Frank O'Hara & Brion Gysin.
July 3, 2009
"Dark Brandon" on YouTube
If you haven't spent time inside the structured intensities of Brandon Downing's incomparable film collages, do yourself a favor this Fourth and see how much America has to be thankful for. Start with "The Ship (I)" and cruise into the sun from there.
July 1, 2009
Tangent Intro for Cynthia Sailers, Portland, 6/27/09
Some poets are sitars, others are symphonies. The sitar poets push lines out into time at varying speeds, shaping attention into pattern through flying scales and overtone clouds. The symphonic poets tend to build their effects through counterpoint and harmony, arranging diverse notes and ideas into chords. Tonight let's recruit Cynthia Sailers for the symphony. The home tone in Cynthia's poetry might be the rub between individuals and the groups they belong to. Her writing sounds the fraught pr
June 29, 2009
Tangent Intro for Dana Ward, Portland, OR 6/27/09
Dana Ward's poetry reminds me of that arcade game where you have to steer a grapple over a pile of soft toys. The object is to get the claw to drop on the prize you want, then carry it off to the chute. In the real game, the toy seems a little sad once it comes down the chute—it never looks as good as it did when it was part of that colorful assortment behind the glass. In Dana's version, the claw never has to drop; you get to keep moving the grapple over a beckoning surface of beauty and detail
June 26, 2009
American Poetry in the Age of Whitman and Dickinson
Emily Dickinson & Walt Whitman enter the blogosphere, with a whole age in train. (With help from Benjamin Friedlander.)
June 24, 2009
Tangent Reading this Saturday, 6/27: Cynthia Sailers, Dana Ward & Stephanie Young
Stephanie Young and Cynthia Sailers lift off from the East Bay to read with Cincinnati’s Rilke, Dana Ward, this Saturday in Portland for Tangent. The stars line up like this only sometimes—come see.Tangent presents
SATURDAY, JUNE 27 at 7 PM
CYNTHIA SAILERS, DANA WARD & STEPHANIE YOUNG
Clinton Corner Café, 2633 SE 21st Ave. Portland, OR
CYNTHIA SAILERS is the author of the poetry collections Lake Systems (Tougher Disguises, 2004) and Rose Lungs (Atticus/Finch, 2004). She is writing a dissertation
June 22, 2009
Style and the Stylized
I’m late to the parade on Edwin Denby, but glad I finally got there. Almost everything he says about dancing translates to writing, or any of the arts involving humans, because he’s really less interested in this or that piece than in art as a kind of teaching of living. The Denby ethos includes clarity, sincerity, unpretentiousness, enjoyment, youth, unselfconsciousness, expression over perfection, and individuality within a collective of others allowed to develop as individuals. Part of the fu
