Remembering Jack Gilbert, Moby-Dick Marathon, and More

by
Evan Smith Rakoff
11.14.12

Poet Jack Gilbert has passed away at age eighty-seven; Melville House looks at the recent scrutiny politicians in the United Kingdom have focused on Amazon; Julian Tepper recounts giving a copy of his first novel to one his regular restaurant customers—novelist Philip Roth; and other news.

Jack Gilbert

"What we feel most has no name but amber, archers, cinnamon, horses, and birds." Listen to a reading of "The Forgotten Dialect of the Heart," by poet Jack Gilbert, who died on Tuesday in Berkeley, California, at the age of eighty-seven. His Collected Poems was published by Knopf in March.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

11.13.12

On November 13, 1797, poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge took a walk together in The Quantock Hills in Somerset, England, and came up with the idea of writing what would become Coleridge's famous poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." In honor of this anniversary, find time for a thirty-minute walk today, ideally in a natural setting. Afterward, freewrite for ten minutes, then use those notes to compose a poem.  

Where Do Ideas Come From?

While the conversation revolved around writing for television, Rod Serling's thoughts on the topic of ideas are of interest to writers of all kinds: "Ideas are born from what is smelled, heard, seen, experienced, felt, emotionalized. Ideas are probably in the air, like little tiny items of ozone."

"As I Walked Out One Evening"

W. H. Auden's beloved poem is set against London's Bricklane in this short film narrated by Tom O'Bedlam and directed, edited, and produced by Peter Szewczyk.

Andy Hedges

Texas cowboy poet Andy Hedges recites "The Red Cow" by Larry McWhorter at the twenty-eighth National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. Hedges will return to Elko for next year's event on January 31, 2013.

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