Cara Benson's (made)
And now for something completely different...poet Cara Benson reads from (made), her collection of prose poems published last year by the Toronto-based indie press BookThug.
A curated selection of videos, including book trailers, brief interviews, and other literary curiosities updated daily.
When the Killing's Done by T. C. Boyle
This especially cinematic (and dramatic) book trailer for T. C. Boyle's thirteenth novel, When the Killing's Done, published last week by Viking, was directed by Jamieson Fry. Check out the first lines of this and eleven more new and noteworthy books in this issue's Page One.
Jorge Luis Borges
The great Argentine author reads "Arte Poética" in this clip with English subtitles. Borges was born in Buenos Aires in 1899 and died in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1986.
Here We Go (A Pantoum)
As if a pantoum isn't hard enough to write, this poet decided to make a short film to go along with it. The poetic form is composed of a series of quatrains in which the first and third lines of each stanza are repeated as the second and fourth lines of the next. The first and third lines of the last stanza are the second and fourth lines of the penultimate stanza; the second and final lines of the last stanza are the third and first lines of the first stanza. Got that? Now watch this.
Poetic Filibuster in Madison, Wisconsin
On the fifth day of protests at the Wisconsin state capital in Madison, poet Kai Carlson-Wee, a student in the MFA program at the University of Wisconsin, participated in the public filibuster opposing legislation introduced by the state's governor, Scott Walker, that could strip public workers of their collective bargaining rights. On Friday the state Assembly passed the controversial bill; it still has to pass the state Senate.
Benjamin Percy
Fiction writer and frequent Poets & Writers Magazine contributor Benjamin Percy recently spoke with interviewer Max Pearlstein about the importance of place in his novels and short stories, the MFA program at Iowa State University where he teaches, and his attempt, in everything he writes, to thrill his readers.
Writers Retreat!
Lloyd Cole, the former lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, recently released the music video for his song "Writers Retreat!" from last year's solo album "Broken Record." Listen as Cole croons the following lyrics: "Who did you meet at the writers retreat? / Where did you sleep at the writers retreat? / What did you write at the writers retreat?"
William S. Burroughs
A Man Within, the documentary about Naked Lunch author William S. Burroughs that premieres on the PBS series Independent Lens tonight, explores the late writer's fascination with, among many other things, guns. "Burroughs didn't feel at home unless he had a loaded gun by his side."
White Collar Poet
This clip is the prologue of an original Web series, produced by Awkward Moment Productions, about Richard Scribe, the CEO of an insurance company who reads poetry on the streets of Vancouver's financial district. The mockumentary is written and directed by Michael Grand and stars David Lewis, John Shaw, and Leo Wilson.
Joyce Carol Oates on Widowhood
Prolific author and Princeton professor Joyce Carol Oates recently appeared on the PBS NewsHour to speak with Jeffrey Brown about her new memoir, The Widow's Story (Ecco), in which she writes about her experience following the death of her husband three years ago. In this clip she discusses what she calls widowhood's "world of absurdity."