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Palpable Magic
Palpable Magic features re-readings and reviews of such late 20th Century poets as Anne Sexton, Larry Levis, Charles Wright, Patricia Goedicke, and Wendell Berry, as well as provides commentaries on poetic craft, the prose poem, and what it means to be a poet.
LaFemina’s musings on poetry are fascinating and curious; the re-readings are not old grounds covered in old measures but as poems and books seen fresh, candidly, sometimes irreverently but always respectfully.
LaFemina is a shrewd critic, and these essays cause us to become necessarily inquisitive and curious. He shows his readers, time and again, that poetry is magical, intense, and necessary to our lives.
LaFemina’s musings on poetry are fascinating and curious; the re-readings are not old grounds covered in old measures but as poems and books seen fresh, candidly, sometimes irreverently but always respectfully.
LaFemina is a shrewd critic, and these essays cause us to become necessarily inquisitive and curious. He shows his readers, time and again, that poetry is magical, intense, and necessary to our lives.
130 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2015
1 person want to read
About the author
Gerry LaFemina
41 books69 followersGerry LaFemina believes poetry is the highest art form; believes everyone should rock out with a guitar at least once--even if they can't play; believes teaching is a calling; believes the New York City subways are beautiful (even if they smell badly); believes in love, bigfoot and other mythic creatures; believes in the power of a good meal, a good night's sleep, good wine, etc; believes laughter is a type of prayer....
A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, LaFemina holds an MFA in Poetry from Western Michigan University as well as an MA in Literature with an emphasis on Twentieth-century Literature from WMU. He has taught at Nazareth College, Kirtland Community College, West Virginia University, Wheeling Jesuit University and Sarah Lawrence College. He directs the Center for Literary Arts at Frostburg State University, where he is an Associate Professor of English, and he serves as a poetry mentor in the Carlow University MFA program He divides his time between Maryland and New York.
A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, LaFemina holds an MFA in Poetry from Western Michigan University as well as an MA in Literature with an emphasis on Twentieth-century Literature from WMU. He has taught at Nazareth College, Kirtland Community College, West Virginia University, Wheeling Jesuit University and Sarah Lawrence College. He directs the Center for Literary Arts at Frostburg State University, where he is an Associate Professor of English, and he serves as a poetry mentor in the Carlow University MFA program He divides his time between Maryland and New York.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 10, 2021
Some quotes:
"The mistake many readers make (and many novice writers make) is the assumption that the speaker of the poem is the poet, and that the narrative context of the poem is the factual truth."
"Poems are a way of thinking, which is why Plato was frightened of the poets. It's a way of thinking and a rhetoric that is antithetical to deductive reasoning. This is why Hegel saw poetry as the second highest art form after philosophy." [and I will add (see Fuss & Dobbins) why Hegel structured his _Phenomenology_ after Dante's _Commedia_.]
"In my own experience, I see the prose poem as a means to something lyrical that I can't do in other forms. They are uninvited guests who spice up the party...They are worm holes in the physics of my own writing universe."
This collection of essays, articles, notes and book reviews is an excellent basis of meditation on the art of poetry. It begins with four pieces on the subject of prose poetry, which I am always being asked to define, and to differentiate, if possible, from flash fiction. These are a nice contribution to the discussion.
My favorite piece is "Rookeries and Red Wheelbarrows: Some Thoughts on the Poetic Line" which originally appeared in Coal Hill Review. It's a mini master lesson on the creation of poetry from everyday language.
Recommended for the serious poetic practitioner.
Not recommended for the splatterpunk Horror audience, or grassy knoll theorists.
"The mistake many readers make (and many novice writers make) is the assumption that the speaker of the poem is the poet, and that the narrative context of the poem is the factual truth."
"Poems are a way of thinking, which is why Plato was frightened of the poets. It's a way of thinking and a rhetoric that is antithetical to deductive reasoning. This is why Hegel saw poetry as the second highest art form after philosophy." [and I will add (see Fuss & Dobbins) why Hegel structured his _Phenomenology_ after Dante's _Commedia_.]
"In my own experience, I see the prose poem as a means to something lyrical that I can't do in other forms. They are uninvited guests who spice up the party...They are worm holes in the physics of my own writing universe."
This collection of essays, articles, notes and book reviews is an excellent basis of meditation on the art of poetry. It begins with four pieces on the subject of prose poetry, which I am always being asked to define, and to differentiate, if possible, from flash fiction. These are a nice contribution to the discussion.
My favorite piece is "Rookeries and Red Wheelbarrows: Some Thoughts on the Poetic Line" which originally appeared in Coal Hill Review. It's a mini master lesson on the creation of poetry from everyday language.
Recommended for the serious poetic practitioner.
Not recommended for the splatterpunk Horror audience, or grassy knoll theorists.
Displaying 1 of 1 review