Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane

I had a great time spending the hour with Marty Moss-Coane on WHYY's Radio Times. We talk about writing your block, Yevtushenko, psychogeography, writing through illness, New Orleans & more.

The hour is archived at Jacket2  for your listening pleasure.

Neighbor Ballads at Kelly Writers House

The Neighbor Ballads reading at UPenn from this fall is now available on PennSound.

Michelle Taransky's intro is here.

I discuss the project here.

And… the Ballads themselves are here.

Much thanks to Michelle & Whenever We Feel Like It!

Neighbor Ballads from Albion Books

I'm very excited to announce the Albion Books release of Neighbor Ballads. More than a year of archival research and oral history interviews inform this series of poems celebrating immigrant narratives of seven South Philadelphians. Their stories are shared through ballad form, paying homage to the impact each has made on the character of their neighborhood.

You can check it out here.

Poet Laureate of Philadelphia

I'm humbled by having the great honor to serve as the new Poet Laureate of Philadelphia 2014-15. Thanks much to Mayor Nutter, the Selection Committee, & the people of this city for being you.

There's some video from the press conference here.


* photo by Heather Raquel Phillips

Very Different Animals in NYT Arts Beat

Who knew I'd be mentioned in the New York Times Arts Beat with John Ashberry, Adrienne Rich, James Dickey and Daniil Kharms? I love almost all of those poets! A big shout-out also goes to Nicole Donnelly who painted the incredible covers/canvasses.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/03/a-years-worth-of-verse-at-poets-house/

Pew Fellowship for Literature

I'm honored to be selected as a Pew Fellow in the Arts for 2013. Recipients this year also include Karen M’Closkey & Keith VanDerSys (design), Jenn McCreary (literature), J. Louise Makary (media), Kinan Abou-Afach (music), Sueyeun Juliette Lee (literature), Hafez Javier Kotain (music), Paul Swenbeck (visual arts), Toshi Makihara (music), Raphael Xavier (dance), Emily Abendroth (lierature) and Bhob Rainey (music).

with tomorrow's sun

Enter the ICA for a historical unfolding of the cultural capital of glitter, a surfacing of shimmering abandon at times of political and economic precariousness. The festivities will begin at 6pm with a site-specific performance in ICA's Project Space by artist Field Kallop: and upon each stood a siren, borne around in its revolution (2013). The performance will be followed by a talk on the exhibition Glitter and Folds by 2011-2013 Whitney-Lauder Curatorial Fellow Jennifer Burris in ICA's auditorium. Philadelphia poet Frank Sherlock —author of Over Here (2009) and The City Real & Imagined (with CAConrad, 2010)—will conclude the evening with a reading of his utopian verse.