Pads off to New York’s Marymount Manhattan College for holding the first ever period poetry slam, “Red Moon Howl.” The menstrual-themed event welcoming “poets, performers & menstrual enthusiasts” and featuring the work of Sylvia Plath, will take place on June 7th as part of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research Conference, honoring Gloria Steinem for her work in “taking down social taboos toward menstruation, including the belief that women are weak, dirty or inferior to men because of their cycles.” Keep reading »
Tag Archives: poetry
First Officer Of My Heart: An Ode To Commander Riker
Oh Riker, oh Commander, oh my dearest William T.,
The time has come to express just how much you mean to me.
I’ve had many crushes, they come and go every day,
But my love for you, Riker, well, it’s never gone away. Keep reading »
A Sonnet In Memory Of The Saturday Mail
In an effort to trim their budget down a bit (by a bit, I mean $2 billion), the US Postal Service has announced a plan to end Saturday mail and cut back to a five-day delivery schedule. As I’ve mentioned before, I am a huge fan of the postal service and I have a giant crush on my mailman, so this news comes as a crushing blow. And sometimes, when pain is this acute, there’s only one way to express it: in iambic pentameter. Read on for my embarrassingly dramatic Sonnet to the Saturday Mail… Keep reading »
The Beat Generation, Annotated
When I was 16, I was super into the Beat Generation, and writers like Jack Kerouac, Frank O’Hara and Allen Ginsberg. In 11th grade, I wrote a paper on Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl.” My English teacher did not know who Allen Ginsberg was, I shit you not, and I had to get special approval to write about him. Through a weird series of connections, I was able to interview Ginsberg’s good friend Patti Smith about him, and she told me one of his stand out qualities was that he wanted to document and record and remember. Ginsberg never got as fucked up as the rest of them because he was too busy cataloging what was going down. So that’s why it’s no surprise to me that recently unearthed photos of Ginsberg’s contain detailed annotations of who, what and where was happening. You can find a collection of them over at Flavorpill. They’re a neat little time capsule of a moment and a movement. [Flavorpill]
James Franco Sold A Book Of Poetry, World Weeps
Admit it, you kind of forgot about James Franco. But just when you think he’s finally crawled back into the Studio City hole from which he came, he pops up again. America, you’ve been Franco-ed, because the 33-year-old actor/”performance artist”/director/perpetual graduate student has a new accolade to add to his list: published poet. The book is titled Directing Herbert White, after a movie that Franco — natch — directed. It’ll be out in 2014, and odds are 100 percent of James Franco’s poems are about James Franco. [Publisher's Weekly]
Send This To Your Friend Who Says “I’m Not A Feminist, But …”
Mayer Not A Feminist
Why I'm disappointed Yahoo's Marissa Mayer doesn't call herself a feminist. Read More »
We all have one: that girl friend or coworker or cousin who says things like “I’m not a feminist, but I think women should be paid as much as men and make medical decisions about their own bodies.” You have probably had many, many patient conversations informing them they actually are a feminist and must now stop shaving their legs to free up more time for our ritualistic Male-Bashing And Baby-Eating Ceremonies.
Save your breath next time and send them this righteous rah-rah girl power poetry performance from the slam poet Mindy Nettifee. It’s about a year old, but well-worth hearing. Who wants to be president anyway? [Upworthy]
Natasha Trethewey, African-American Pulitzer Prizewinner, Named Poet Laureate
- Natasha Trethewey, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, has been named Poet Laureate of the United States. Trethewey has written three collections of poetry, one nonfiction book, and teaches creative writing at Emory University. She is the first Southerner to win since the first-ever laureate and the most recent black poet laureate since 1993. Her fourth book of poems, Thrall, is scheduled for publication in the fall. [New York Times]
- Find out more about an utterly scary “super bill” restricting access to abortion proposed by Michigan State Representative Bruce Rendon, a Republican. [Feministing, Think Progress]
- A “booth babe” at this week’s Computex exhibition in Taiwan says tech companies are pressuring women they hire to man the booths to show more and more skin. [CNET] Keep reading »
Today’s Lady News: Remembering Poet Adrienne Rich (1929-2012)
- Here’s some of the many remembrances of the poet, essayist and feminist activist Adrienne Rich, who died yesterday at 82. In particular, I point you to this beautiful, spare poem by Marge Piercy in honor of Ms. Rich. [NY Times, NYMag.com, The Millions]
- Arizona’s State Senate defeated the bill that would have allowed employers to refuse to offer health insurance that covers birth control for their employees if it conflicted with the employer’s own “moral or religious beliefs.” [Think Progress]
- A committee in Oklahoma’s State House voted yesterday to advance a so-called “fetal personhood” bill that would criminalize all abortions by declaring a fertilized egg a “person.” [NECN]
- Well, somebody had to tell all of Esquire‘s female readers to stop being so uppity. [Esquire] Keep reading »
If Pinterest Was Real: A Cautionary Poem
I love Pinterest, but sometimes browsing through all the bright, shiny pictures and endless tips and tutorials feels like exploring a different world–a world where thighs don’t touch and every meal is cooked in a crockpot and served in a mason jar with a ribbon tied around it. The best way to describe the weird, wacky, wonderful world of Pinterest? In a poem, of course… Keep reading »
Dr. Maya Angelou’s Advice To Her 15-Year-Old Self
Here is the poet Dr. Maya Angelou, age 83, reading a letter she wrote to her 15-year-old self. “Find a beautiful piece of art,” she says. “Realize that was created by a human being just like you. No more human, no less.” Gorgeous. Definitely worth a listen. [CBS News]
