National Poetry Month at the Big Houses

W.W. Norton has set Robert Pinsky loose on Poems Out Loud, a website connected to the publication of his new anthology, Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud. (It comes with a CD; so far, the only track I’ve had a chance to consider is Pinsky’s recital of Christopher Smart’s “Jubilate Agno,” for firstly it is one of the sweetest poems ever written, and for secondly you should never pass up an opportunity to hear it.) He’s not the only poet taking part in the proceedings, and the guest stars include Rita Dove (left), who reads “Ludwig van Beethoven’s Return to Vienna,” a poem I mentioned earlier this week.

Not to be outdone in the National Poetry Month celebrations, FSG has resurrected The Best Words in Their Best Order, its annual month-or-so-long spotlight on poets, including several whose work they publish. They’ve also got some extra features—for example, they recently devoted three full days to posts from Graywolf Press senior editor Jeff Shotts on who might be the best contemporary poetry critic in American letters.

(This is, of course, by no means a complete survey of how book publishers are recognizing National Poetry Month, and I’ll have more to show you in the weekends to come.)

4 April 2009 | poetry |