(Under the heading of, Poets Who Actually Deserve Big Prizes or, do I know how to pick ’em or what?)
Big congrats to two winners of the $40,000 Whiting Award, Ilya Kaminsky and Dana Levin. Sometime in the last year I loved each of their books to death (Ilya’s Dancing in Odessa and Dana Levin’s Wedding Day) and wrote glowing reviews of them – my review of Ilya’s book review is in The Pedestal and my review of Dana’s book is in the new issue of 88.) Sometimes it is work to try to find something positive to say about books of poetry, but both these reviews were based on real, punch-in-the-gut admiration.
Seriously, if I was going to pick two upcoming poets who deserved a prize like this, based on two books released in the last twelve months or so, it would be these two poets. So hooray.
I am finishing Zadie Smith’s On Beauty (a fabo sendup of politics in academia, race, and American culture – and a real pleasure to read, funny and acid sharp – very anti-poetry, I think, and among the main characters is a thinly veiled parody composite Jorie Graham/Louise Gluck character) and Margaret Atwood’s Lady Oracle. Sometimes I need a little fiction to help me write better poems. I loved the fierce feminism in the fragmented poems of Kristy Bowen’s chapbook Errata, which you can still get for free until Nov 1 – see her blog, here.
In the last two months, sales of Female Comic Book Superheroes have raised a little over $40 for Katrina flood victim relief. Thanks to everyone who bought a copy! I’m sending the funds on Halloween.

And, in case you were wondering, here is a link to the final version of my book cover – many thanks to everyone who responded about the previous draft – now I just have to wait to see it on real live paper!