Reading: So Little Depends by Miguel-Manso
Miguel Manso (b. 1979) is a Portuguese poet born in Santarém. He has written eight books of poetry. I read a verse with a title that appealed to me, ‘so little depends’: The original is on the website of Poetry International. So Little Depends you prefer the corner, the hidden place the foliage, the shadow, …
Reading: Singidunum by Nina Stojkovic
Nina Stojkovic is a Serbian-American poet. I had the honor to welcome her in my place here in Seoul. Today I read from her 2013 poetry book ‘Three words: foreign’. Singidunum Hugging the dirt under the fortress Two rivers marry again and again Witnessed by our virginity and ideals Rain cascades over crosses and chimneys …
Meditation on friendship
Close your eyes. Breathe calmly. You sit here alone, master of your own thoughts. Imagine I am talking to you. I want to know what friendship means. Quickly, construct a differentiation. Which opposite op ‘friend’ have you found? Mere acquaintance? Or: enemy? But what can we say about a thing of which we cannot determine the …
The Good Life
Mark likes to play computer games. In real life he fixes televisions. There are solder spots on his hands, when he sends his armies to the front lines. Paul, who measures buildings before they are inhabited, enjoys spinning a lifetime of infinities in his mind. Oscar, the media guy, prefers sitting in the sun. Justine …
Reading: On Seeing A Watermelon by Monika Kumar
Monka Kumar (b. 1977) is a Hindi poet. Her interests include the folklore and folk culture of Punjab, contemporary literary theory and world poetry. She also writes a PhD thesis on the work of François Lyotard. I read a fruity love poem in the translation by Sampurna Chattarji: On Seeing A Watermelon Seeing a watermelon …
Small big data
Today’s hype is Big Data. As with other hypes, such as ‘sharing economy’, ‘cloud’, ‘blockchain’, the hype is simultaneously promoted as a commercial instrument that is indispensable for companies and as a pervasive phenomenon that redefines the fabric of society. Every big corporation sits on a heap of big data about their customers. Statistical analysis …
Reading: The Wreck by Don Paterson
Don Paterson (b. 1963) is a Scottish poet from Dundee, where he still lives and plays jazz guitar in a band. He has taught poetry and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire. His poetry unique on two T.S. Eliot Prizes and the list of awards goes on. I read a remarkable ode to a love …
Reading: First Memory by Louise Gluck
Louise Glück (b. 1943) is an American poet born in New York. Numerous awards, appointed Poet Laureate in 2003. Her poetry is neither confessional nor intellectual and considered among the purest writing in English poetry today. Her subject matter is often desolate and depressing, yet poetically brilliant. I read a short little piece of wisdom …
Reading: Lost Worlds by Giorgos Seferis
Giorgos Seferis (1900 – 1971) was one of the most famous Greek poets of the twentieth century, born near Smyrna (Izmir). He died sadly before the end of the military dictatorship in his country. His work was greatly inspired by Yeats, Kavafis, T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. He won the 1963 Nobel Prize. I read ‘Lost …
Reading: Archibald by John Betjeman
Legendary poet laureate of the UK John Betjeman (1906-1984) was a nostalgic poet. According to Jocelyn Brooke, he is “a writer who uses the medium of light verse for a serious purpose: not merely as a vehicle for satire or social commentary, but as a means of expressing a peculiar and specialized form of aesthetic …
Reading: Project for a fainting by Brenda Shaughnessy
Brenda Shaughnessy (b.) is an American poet. She wrote Interior with Sudden Joy (1999), Human Dark with Sugar (2008). She is currently an associate professor of English at Rutgers University-Newark. I have discovered some of her poems and I’m really impressed. Here I read ‘Project for a Fainting’ but make sure you also read ‘Dear …
Reading: Sci-Fi by Tracy K. Smith
Tracy K. Smith (b. 1972) rose to poetic fame with her book Life on Mars. She is a well-known contemporary American poet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Her new book Wade in Water appears in April 2018. In June 2017, Smith was named U.S. poet laureate. She teaches creative writing at Princeton University. This poem is …