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Poetry Month 2016: Eavan Boland
What Language Did The evening was the same as any other. I came out and stood on the step. The suburb was closed in the weather of an early spring and the shallow tip of washed-out yellows of narcissi resisted dusk. And crocuses and snowdrops. I stood there and felt the melancholy of growing older in such a season, when all I could be certain of was simply in this time of fragrance and refrain, whatever else might flower before the fruit, and be renewed, I would not. Not again. A car splashed by in the twilight.Read More
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50 Best Poetry Books Since 1950
Back in 2009, Tony Barnstone initiated a game on Eratosphere that involved readers posting their choices for “the Best 100 Poetry Books of the 20th Century.” It was a great exercise because it was more than a list: each reader could choose only one book and had to write a brief paragraph explaining why that book belonged on the list. Well, we’re almost a decade and a half into the 21st century, and the 20th “best books” lists have been done to death. So I’d like to adapt Barnstone’s game to our current situation.Read More
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On the Poet’s Role
After two absurdly relaxing weeks in Mexico I am only just now digging out from under emails, backlogged paperwork—you know the routine. But before the weekend overtakes me I want to pass along one of the most evocative meditations I’ve read about the role of the poet: Eavan Boland’s “Islands Apart: A Notebook”, from the latest (May 2008) issue of Poetry.Read More
Joseph Hutchison, Colorado Poet Laureate 2014-2019, has published 20 collections of poems and edited or co-edited three poetry anthologies. He currently directs two master’s-level programs for University College at the University of Denver: Professional Creative Writing and Arts & Culture Management. Joe lives with his wife, Melody Madonna, in the mountains southwest of Denver, Colorado, the city where he was born. 
