Page 413 of 433

Posted on

The Burden of a Shared Name

As part of celebrating interNational Poetry Month, Blaga Todorova (Between the Shadows and the Soul) has written an essay about the Bulgarian poet, Blaga Dimitrova, which is posted today on The Bardo Group blog. Dimitrova was – in addition to being a poet – a writer and the former Vice President of Bulgaria. She was the inspiration for John Updike’s short story “The Bulgarian Poetess” … so read on and link through to the complete post. Two of Blaga Dimitrova’s poems are included there …

The Bardo Group Beguines's avatarThe BeZine

571px-Blaga_Dimitrova_Youn I used to hate her, foolish, a teenager’s hate that can only be explained in a parallel universe where logic doesn’t exist. I was a sixteen-year-old girl in a class with additional studies of mathematics. I was supposed to have the sharp brain, the emotion-free behavior required for someone who was a shining star in solving mathematical problems. Then suddenly there it was: the literature lesson about her and one of her poems I don’t even remember. The teacher decided that I was the one who should talk about her that day because of the first name we shared. 41GHNKWJ10L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_

It was a disaster! I hadn’t read a word from what was written in the school books about her and her poetry. When I was asked the question ‘What do you think Blaga Dimitrova’s poem symbolizes?’ all I could think about to answer was, “The only person who really knows what the words…

View original post 1,305 more words

Posted on

Academy of American Poets, expanding the reach of poetry

The 2014 National Poetry Month poster
The 2014 National Poetry Month poster

……It is difficult
to get the news from poems
…..yet men die miserably every day
……….for lack
of what is found there.

—William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), Latino-American Poet

If you are of an age, you remember a time when newspapers and magazines, local and regional, regularly served up poetry and fiction, which was then read and enjoyed by masses of people. Many of the old iconic poets and writers you enjoy today began publishing that way. Now the Academy of American Poets is partnering with news syndicate King Features to bring its Poem a Day program (currently distributed by email subscription) to newspapers, websites and magazines.

In her announcement yesterday Academy of American Poets Executive Director, Jennifer Benka, said:

“It’s been a generation since new poems have been available to daily news readers. We’re thrilled to help renew this tradition, which will bring greater visibility to contemporary poets.

While we will make the poems available for free, the benefits of expanding the access to poetry in this way are undeniable. Readers who would never have otherwise encountered a poem, will find them amid current events.”

The effort is initiated this April in concert with the Academy of American Poets’ annual celebration of Poetry Month.

– Jamie Dedes

Posted on

HEARTBLEED BUG: WordPress is okay but Facebook and other social networking sites might not be

heartbleed… and you thought all your personal info was held just between you, your God, the NSA and that hacker in Eastern Europe who shall remain nameless. No poetry here!

I hoped I could spend the afternoon reading, settled comfy with Billy Collings’ Picnic, Lightning. I had to ruin things by checking my email first only to learn that while WordPress is safe, the technoscenti (no, there’s no such word, but you get the idea) recommend changing our passwords to Facebook and other social networking sites … and to gmail, by the way.  I don’t use any of the other networking sites, but you might. Link HERE to Mashable’s list of sites that are vulnerable to this flaw. It includes corporations, government and tax sites, and banks and brokerage firms …

Related feature:

The Programmer Behind Heartbleed Speaks Out

Heartbleed logo is free to use, rights waived via CC0

Posted on

the fairy who lives in the moon

480px-Wonderful_Fairies_-_45_-_Fairy_Girl winter has stopped rattling the glass
and spring has arrived, tentative in an
uncertain green, touching down
and taking off again . . . peripatetic

night falls with a chill wind, hugs a tree
and the fairy who lives in the moon pens
ghost stories of Earth as she might be

© 2014, poem, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved Illustration via Wikipedia: A fairy girl (by illustrator Cora M. Norman), seen at the end of “The Cloud Fairies” in Ernest Vincent Wright’s The Wonderful Fairies of the Sun.