Interviews “I think when you read poetry and especially if it has an impact on you, it stays with you for a long time. Then in a fleeting moment an image comes, the rhythm comes out of you, and you start to doubt. Is it mine? does it belong to someone else?” An interview with Ecuardorian poet Ivón Gordon Vailakis. By Rebecca Seiferle. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – A Conversation A discussion of poetry and politics with William Pitt Root “What’s been going on recently in poetry is more like a rave or a mosh-pit than a marriage and just about as likely to last past reveille. . .the relationship between poetry and politics is less like marriage than like a pair of warring lovers— inseparably separate, inconsolably conjoined. They are opposites but magnetic opposites, governed by a kind of duende rather than social sanctions, by passion and compassion rather than pacts and contracts.” by Daniela Gioseffi. And in connection with this conversation, see The Unbroken Diamond: Nightletter to the Mujahideen by William Pitt Root – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Collaborations Continuations: A Collaboration Douglas Barbour and Sheila E. Murphy “With collaboration, there is an even broader sense of subject, that is, less of tightly controlled ‘about-ness’. Concepts, referents, even possible sites of imagery, are alive, balancing the roles of receiver and sender in a two-way process. When one writes collaboratively, there’s a comfort and a simultaneous ‘ready for anything’ sensation, as the spectrum of surprise and expectation is touched in various places.” – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Online “From the beginning, jerseyworks has been South Jersey in appearance, with photography that emphasizes the shore, but with no geography of intellectual content. Our contributors come from all over the U.S. ” By Ron Gaskill “As the larger publishers, and book sellers, continue to marginalize poetry books, Nthposition believes that making poetry instantly available world-wide via the Internet (and for free) will become an evermore attractive option (and may help to positively redefine the power structures that continue to dominate the high literary world).” By Todd Swift, Poetry Editor. – – – – – – – – – – – – Recommended Reading The Common Flesh By Alison Croggon – – – – – – – – – – – – New Books from the Editors Country of Memory By Charles Fishman – – – – – – – – – – – – Other Sites Poetryetc Snapshots Archive Poetryetc is a listserv relating to poetry and poetics which provides a forum for poets to debate their critical and creative work. The list has over the years run a number of projects for its members, of which Snapshots has been the most enduring. Every Wednesday, Poetryetc members were invited to post short poems on any subject or in any form they chose. The idea was to make a poetic collage of instamatic “snaps” of that day that reflected the international membership of the list. The project has generated an astounding number of poems. The first two runs, of six weeks each, and the first ten weeks of the third run, are archived at Wild Honey Press www.wildhoneypress.com under Poetryetc Project. The rest – amounting in all to a run of a year – are archived here on The Drunken Boat. Poetryetc is archived at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/poetryetc.html. and anyone interested can join from that url. – – – – – – – – – – – – The Poets’ Corner first appeared on the net round the end of summer 2003 as a page included on the site Fiera Lingue (www.fieralingue.it) supported by the local Pedagogical Institute, Bozen, South Tyrol, Italy. Since Fiera Lingue means Fair of Languages, my attention as the curator of the page will have to be focused on poems in various languages, translations of poems, and by extending the trans- concept, on interpretations and reviews of Poets on Poets, which opens up to the infinite possibilities rotating around the concept of poetry, to visual art or the relationship between image and text, among the most frequent. An extremely young page which is finding its developing structure into an anthology of contemporary authors, as well as a collection of speculations on poetry and on poets, with a supporting section dedicated to reviews and critical notes. My acknowledgment goes to the Pedagogical Institute, in particular to Maria Cristina Petruzzino who has made the Poets’ Corner possible, to Vanni our webmaster who has designed a copy and paste page for me (ignorant as I am of the html language), to Laura Portesi who has often encouraged me, Giuseppe Perna the new director, and to all those who have contributed. As I wrote in my opening statement, I feel it as a personal privilege to be able to gather so many interesting and motivated Poets, to all my deepest thank you. Anny Ballardini Here is the main index: http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=poetshome – – – – – – – – – – – – Pushcart Nominations of The Drunken Boat MTC Cronin’s Interrogating the Heart Alison Croggon’s Specula Specula: Mirrors from the Middle Ages Shirley Kaufman’s poems Gali Dana Singer’s poems Gail Wronsky’s Subterranean Verities

The Imaginative Life and the Social Responsibility of Writers A talk presented at the Writers’ Symposium, International Federation for the Teaching of English, 2003 July 6, Melbourne Concert Hall, Australia. by Alison Croggon.

Le Scriptorium“Le Scriptorium”, the Marseille-based group of poets brought together last year by Dominique Sorrente, had its second international get-together in May on European Unity Day. by Rosalind Brackenbury.