http://habenichtpress.com/index.php the knowledge of contrast, feeling for light and shade, all that information (primitive sense) necessary for a poem Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:02:29 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Imagine if Keats had had a blog. I'm thinking about the possibility of responding to his critics. The critical response to Endymion was harsh, as Keats himself foresaw it would be. Leigh Hunt and his "cockney school" had already been savaged in the press. Keats sensed the inherent weakness of his ... http://habenichtpress.com/index.php/?p=500 01.26.99 M. came into the office this morning, worked quietly for an hour, and then suddenly announced to G. (who sat in the cubicle next to her) that she got married yesterday. The news spread like a virus, until people stood up from their desks beaming at her from across the ... http://habenichtpress.com/index.php/?p=495 If you've never worked at a library, you might not know this, but people donate books all the time. Stacks, piles, bags, boxes... People who are moving or cleaning out their storage, I guess, and don't feel like trying to sell them, but can't bring themselves to throw them away. ... http://habenichtpress.com/index.php/?p=485 Yesterday afternoon, Stephen McLaughlin stopped by on his epic cross-country journey in order to interview me for Jacket 2. He's interviewing as many poets as he can in Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago ... then he's on his way to San Francisco, before swinging down to Austin, probably with lots of stops ... http://habenichtpress.com/index.php/?p=475 If you're a poet, a person who loves poetry, or a person who simply loves old books, you're certainly familiar with this experience: You walk into a used bookstore. You head for the poetry section. You begin scanning the shelves, running your finger along the spines to make sure you ... http://habenichtpress.com/index.php/?p=465 Wanted to write a few words on a recent New York Times article on fiction writer Tom Grimes, who directs the MFA program at Texas State from which I graduated a few years ago. The article is part cautionary tale about literary fame, part review of Grimes's new book Mentor, ... http://habenichtpress.com/index.php/?p=462 Make your ego porous. Will is of little importance, complaining is nothing, fame is nothing. Openness, patience, receptivity, solitude is everything. The quote above is from Rilke. I've been thinking of him a lot the past week or so as the "contest" debate has unfolded. Rilke, of course, had a knack ... http://habenichtpress.com/index.php/?p=459