Groom, Simms, Kellogg, et. al.
Kelle Groom on “TURN IT UP” and “MORE NIGHTS THAN DAYS”: “TURN IT UP” I wrote this poem after reading Tony Hoagland’s beautiful last book of poems, Turn Up the Ocean (Graywolf, 2022). Tony and his wife Kathleen once took me to swim at Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown, Massachusetts. I was carless, staying in a stiflingly hot room while taking a
Hoppenthaler, Bond and Upton, et. al.
John Hoppenthaler on “Nocturne”: My poems typically begin as riffs inspired by whatever landscape the world provides at a given moment: imagery, sensory details, the actions of fellow humans and animals. In this case, fate finds me in Eureka Springs, Arkansas at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow, coaxing the last poems of what will be my fourth collection of
Bradbury, Bliumis-Dunn, Florczyk, et. al.
Steve Bradbury on translating Wu Yu Hsuan: I took this “headshot” of Frida, as she likes to call herself in English (Frida Kahlo being one of her great inspirations), when she came to visit me in Melrose, Florida earlier this year. It was then and there that we discussed the poems and I made the translations you have accepted. Had she not come, I doubt
Bond, Karapetkova, Hadas, et. al.
Bruce Bond on “Lunette 15”: This poem is part of a book-length cycle of poems composed in dialogue with photographs by my brother, Walt Cochran-Bond. In it, I explore the notion of brokenness—culturally, physically, and psychologically—as a summons. The shape of the lunette sometimes gets invoked in the photographs directly, connoting the waning or waxing moon or an architectural feature,
Goodfellow, Ulku, Tymchuk, et. al.
Jessica Goodfellow on ‘On My Diagnosis of Pulsatile Tinnitus.’ : We had just moved into a new house when the pulsatile tinnitus started, so at first I was convinced it was actual noises in the house; for weeks, I wandered from room to room, pressing my ear against walls. Later, as the noise got louder, I thought someone was in
Harmon, Fagan, Buckley, et. al.
Bradley Harmon on translating 2 Poems by Katarina Frostenson: A poem, like many poems, that upon and after reading infuses my mind with erratic thoughts and surrounds my body with a kinetic aura. A poem, like many poems, that I at once feel like I understand and simultaneously know that I never will. A poem, this poem, that I have
Collins, Orlowsky, Bouwsma, et. al.
Billy Collins on “Eyes on the Prize”: I cannot help recognize this poem as yet another example of my habit of playing the role of the idle poet, the dawdler who has nothing to do but daydream while kicking fallen acorns. That persona enters poetry history with Wordsworth and Co. who were lucky enough to live in the age of
Cardona, Bassen, Filkins, et. al.
Hélène Cardona on translating Maram Al-Masri’s poems: The Abduction refers to an autobiographical event in Al-Masri’s life. When, as a young Arab woman living in France, she decides to separate from her husband with whom she has a child, the father kidnaps the baby and returns to Syria. The Abduction is the story of a woman who is denied the
Culhane, basta, Cisewski, et. al.
Brian Culhane on “On Not Translating Polish Poets”: I once read that Ashbery would ask his students to translate a poem from a language they didn’t know. My own poem rests on the improbable premise that a would-be translator’s lack of Polish could lead to a “peculiar intensity,” one ironically derived from ignorance. The poets mentioned— Herbert, Szymborska, Zagajewski—are ones
Donovan, Freeman, Lindsay, et. al.
Gregory Donovan on “The Jeweled Eye”: I despair of being able to write adequately about someone I love. One day in my office I heard my wife begin her shower, and I pictured her there, hot water streaming over her—she says it’s the only time she feels warm during winter, the dead season and its bone-chilling cold she hates. I
Chappell & Murphy, Bakken, Moss, et. al.
Carrie Chappell and Amanda Murphy on translating Sandra Moussempès: The feminist and multi-voiced dimensions of Sandra Moussempès’ work inspired us to collaborate on translating Cassandre à bout portant (Flammarion, January 2021). As academic and poet, respectively, and as two women originally from the United States, we felt especially drawn to the plurality her poems insist are a part of women’s
Zwart, Wellman, Rivard, et. al.
Jane Zwart on “Half the Time”: This poem owes its existence partly to Amit Majmudar, who invited me into a collaborative experiment called “mirror writing.” I have found the simple process magic. Amit and I take turns sending one another titles over email. For every new title, each of us improvises, solo, a poem to suit the title, sending it
