Kaveh Akbar interviews poet Wendy Xu about oppressive syntax, imaginary realms, and poems as ecosystems. As she puts it, “Poetry validates the emotional realness of the imaginary.” Pair with Andrew Kay’s Millions essay on the power of poetry.
A Beautiful Alternate World
The Verdict
Max’s verdict in the opening round of The Morning News Tournament of Books has been posted. Which book did he pick, Gate at the Stairs or The Book of Night Women? Hop over to TMN to find out. And don’t miss the match commentary, which has some great additional discussion of both books.
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Research
Two weeks ago, Tod Goldberg came out with a new novel, Gangsterland, that centers on a hit man in the Chicago Mafia. At The Nervous Breakdown, you can read an excerpt of the novel, as well as one of their trademark self-interviews, in which Goldberg explains that for the past three years, he’s been “writing and writing and writing. But sometimes, that just means I’m not writing at all.” You could also read the author’s dispatch from AWP.
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Coldplay Loves Libraries
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Catching the Muse, So to Speak
From Easel Orgy to Orgy in Oils, Giovanni Garcia-Fenech has rounded up dozens of sleazy paperback covers depicting artists intimately engaged in their work. (Side Note: it seems like the couple in Bride’s Dilemma is a tad overdressed.)
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From the Department of Prehistory
This week in palaeontology: “…how did 30-ton animals larger than four-story buildings have sex?”
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This is my impersonation of a person writing a Curiosity
Comedian Tig Notaro, who recently announced she has breast cancer, has sold her memoir, and fans can look for it on shelves in 2015. Until then, you’ll have to make do with her hysterical stand-up routines.