Florence Parry Heide Dies
October 27th, 2011
Florence Parry Heide, who wrote dozens of books of prose and poetry for children, often enhanced with drawings by famed illustrators, has died at her home in Kenosha, Wis. She was 92.
John Giorno Appears in REM video
October 15th, 2011
Poet John Giorno appears in the new video for REM's new song “We All Go Back To Where We Belong.” Michael Stipe said that working with Giorno had been in his mind since first recording the song. Giorno previously appeared in Andy Warhol's film “Sleep,” consisting of five hours and 20 minutes of Giorno sleeping. This could be the last REM video as the band broke-up last month.
Poet Tomas Tranströmer Wins Nobel Prize
October 6th, 2011
Tranströmer was born and educated in Stockholm. He has written thirteen books of poems and is the recipient of such honors as the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the Bonnier Award for Poetry, Germany's Petrarch Prize, the Bellman Prize, and the Swedish Academy's Nordic Prize. His poetry has been translated into over sixty languages.
One-of-a-kind Smartish Pace Covers
September 10th, 2011
Artist friends of Smartish Pace made one-of-a-kind covers for Smartish Pace Issues 17 and 18. Buy one! Artists: Clare Banks, Susan Campbell, Joel Feinberg, Jared Fischer, Natalie Kahla, Jeff Lewandowski, Maeve Banks Reichert, Stephen Reichert, Terence Winch & Baynard Woods.
Philip Levine Named U.S. Poet Laureate
August 10th, 2011
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington appointed Philip Levine as the Library's 18th Poet Laureate for 2011-2012. Levine's duties will begin with a reading of his work at the Coolidge Auditorium on Monday, Oct. 17.
Levine succeeds W.S. Merwin and joins a pool of distinguished poets who have served in the position, including Robert Penn Warren, Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop, William Carlos Williams, Robert Frost, Stanley Kunitz, Mark Strand, Howard Nemerov; and more recently Kay Ryan, Charles Simic, Donald Hall, Ted Kooser, Louise Glück, Billy Collins, Robert Pinsky, Robert Hass and Rita Dove.
Levine is the author of 20 collections of poems, including most recently "News of the World" (2009). He won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for "The Simple Truth," the National Book Award in 1991 for "What Work Is" and in 1980 for "Ashes: Poems New and Old," the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1979 for both "Ashes: Poems New and Old" and "7 Years From Somewhere," and the 1975 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for "Names of the Lost."
Smartish Pace Covers Roger Clemens Trial
July 13th, 2011
Our Editor Stephen Reichert is in an unique position to cover the Roger Clemens perjury trial in Washington, DC. Reichert played baseball in college after which he studied law, and he is blogging about the Clemens trial for The Best American Poetry Blog. His Clemens videos can be found here.
Rachel Bennett & SP Featured on Verse Daily
May 11th, 2011
Rachel Bennett's poem "Dublin," that originally appeared in Smartish Pace Issue 18 (2011), was featured today at Verse Daily.
Smartish Pace on the Radio Today
April 22nd, 2011
Smartish Pace Editor Stephen Reichert is interviewed by Baynard Woods on WYPR's (NPR) The Signal. Listen here (24:45 mark in show). Stephen talks about editing and how poems are selected for Smartish Pace; and reads "Lover, Your Stadium Seating" by Austin Tremblay from Issue 18.
Smartish Pace on Tour!
April 20th, 2011
Your favorite literary magazine is on a world tour celebrating the release of Issue 18. Tour stops include readings by Smartish poets and, at some stops, bands. The first stop is British Virgin Islands on April 28th, followed by Baltimore on May 6th and then on to Brooklyn, Cinci and Nashville with details TBA. Visit our events section for all tour stop details as we will add more dates. We hope to see you on the road!
Wrisley & Gerard Nominated for Best New Poets
April 14th, 2011
Smartish Pace is pleased to announce our nomination of Jennie Wrisley, for her poem "The Blanks," and Christian Anton Gerard, for his poem "What Makes a Life," for inclusion in the anthology Best New Poets. These poems originally appeared in Smartish Pace, Issue 17. We've had winners in the past and hope our poets win again this year.
