Category: Poetry

Tolkien’s household and poetic places

by Nick Owchar, posted in Book reviews, King Arthur, Myth - Tolkien, Myth -Poetry, Poetry

FAMILY MATTERS: Andrew O'Hehir gives a nice overview of Tolkien's "The Fall of Arthur" in the pages of the New York Times that only stumbles at the very end. A couple of reasons why Tolkien abandoned that poem, which his son Christopher notes in the new book, involved the pressures of work and his family. … Continue reading Tolkien’s household and poetic places

Poetry: More salt, please

by Nick Owchar, posted in Books, Myth -Poetry, Poetry, Publishing, Reading, Writing

Poet Michael Odom passed along a recent item from the UK edition of the Huff Post that illustrates poetry's continuing difficulties in the publishing marketplace. (Read Michael's work at Mao's Trap.) One of the big supporters of new and upcoming poets, Salt Publishing, has decided to scale back from publishing books solely devoted to a … Continue reading Poetry: More salt, please

Dante and Dylan? Translating the translator (part 2)

by Nick Owchar, posted in Books, Myth -Poetry, Poetry, Translation, Writing

"Translating the Translator" continues with a brief master class on translation. Andrew Frisardi describes some of the choices he made in translating a key moment (and key poem) of Dante's "Vita Nova." What influenced his choices? Many things, it turns out. He wanted to preserve the meaning of the original, capture a feeling of breathlessness … Continue reading Dante and Dylan? Translating the translator (part 2)