when my dad texted me Nelson Mandela was dead the first thing that went through my head was Johnny Clegg and Savuka’s song “Asimbonanga”

(“We haven’t seen him” — 1987)

which called for Mandela’s release from prison

***

Oh the sea is cold and the sky is grey
Look across the island into the bay
We are all islands till comes the day
We cross the burning water

 ***

(Mandela joins Clegg on stage at about the 2:40 mark. And then speaks a little. And dances.)

 
Cyber Monday Sale

“Give the Gift of Poetry this Holiday Season”

35% off everything including Langston Hughes Notebooks, Emerson Necklaces, Rumi Calendars, Iambic Pentameter T-shirts, etc, etc,..

go to to Poets.org (The Academy of American Poets) and use the code POETS35OFF to get your discount

…and Hurry!

 
In her review of Dirty: Dirty (an anthology of “dirty” writing that includes work by J.A. Tyler, Lily Hoang, Gary J. Shipley, etc) Roxane Gay states:

“In truth, sex is absurd as a physical act, so good writing about sex should find a way to convey that absurdity along with the intensity, the humor, the beauty and the ugliness of sex.”

In Truth Sex is absurd as a physical act —- hmmmmmm??

***

what do y’all think ??

***

(go here to read Roxane’s full review)

 
Steve Roggenbuck is “launching a group project called Boost House” and needs “funding to get it started”

what in the frick is Boost House?

Boost House will be a publisher, and an actual house out of which that publisher is run.

we’ll make books, posters, shirts, stickers, and other goods that promote ways of living we believe in.

get all the information here at Kickstarter

Jeff Bursey interviews Steven Moore. Among other things, it includes a photo of a young Moore playing a sitar.

Also relevant: Jeff’s review of Moore’s recent The Novel: An Alternative History, Vol. II. (I loved Vol. I myself.)

King-Kill 33 by James Shelby Downard or The Umbrella Man by Errol Morris. Good luck.

Does anyone know if the Pulitzer Prize is awarded to the author or to the book?

For example, in 1952, did Marianne Moore win the Pulitzer Prize for Collected Poems or did Marianne Moore’s Collected Poems win the Pulitzer Prize?

Is either acceptable?

Is there a reason the use of the word “literally” has become such a bothersome issue for all of us? What made it possible? Who is to blame?

We need a resolution.

– – watch this imagining it’s Janey Smith!!

– – watch this imagining it’s Johannes Göransson!!

– – watch this imagining it’s Alt Lit in toto!!

(just kidding… just kidding)

Brian Allen Carr interviews (?) Dennis Cooper about certain sharks with an amorous interest in mothers.