Poetry's November Issue

Sometimes I run out of time to go to the local library to find living poets but I do try to subscribe to at least two publications a year that have poets featured in them. Poetry is the most obvious choice, and I would like to recommend this magazine for people who love poetry enough to have a whole literary journal dedicated to poets. Not only can this clue you in to living poets you may want to check out at the book-store, the poems selected often move you in some way.
The poet who moved me the most in the journal was Elfriede Jelinek, translated into English by Michael Hoffman. Elfriede does not write poetry much anymore, but the works included were wonderful, they all had a “bite” to them. She is better known for her fiction titled The Piano Teacher, however I implore you to check out this issue on-line, in book-stores, or libraries and seek her poems out. They are truly wonderful.
May I also mention that Neko Case has an article in this issue? For those of you who love the band The New Pornographers, this is a fabulous treat. I, for one, love her article because I can relate. I have no degree in English and yet I love poetry and feel the need to pursue it by sharing it with others or trying it myself. Fantastic little article…
In the meantime, check out Kevin Young’s poem “From Book of Hours”, a little long by my usual standards but I ate it up, and also Nicole Pekarske’s poem “Carolina Journal” which reminds me of all my relatives in their hometown of Linton, Indiana.

I would post the poems if I could, but I ran out of time to ask permission. And Poetry is wonderful about granting permission so long as the author also agrees should any of you ever want to share poems with a class, on a web-site, blog, etc. Keep reading poetry, and please check out this journal based out of Chicago. Thanks for dropping by!

P.S. I will be delayed in posting Monday's response as I will be going out of town and returning later in the afternoon. Also, don't forget to vote in the poll at the bottom...