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Pif Magazine
Pif Magazine |
Poetry Daily
If you're passionate about poetry and haven't visited Poetry Daily, you've been missing out on one of the best poetry sites on the Web. Each daily "issue" of Poetry Daily features a single poem from a contemporary poet. Selections are culled from the submissions of book, journal and magazine editors (rather than from individual poets) and are chosen without regard to genre or school. The only criteria, write the editors, is that the poem is written in English and has clear literary merit. This means that over the course of any given week, readers will likely encounter a broad spectrum of approaches and genres, from formalist to free verse, narrative poetry to the avant garde – one never knows quite what to expect. Recent featured poets include A.R. Ammons, John Ashbery, Lucille Clifton, Mark Doty, Stephen Dunn, Daniel Halpern, Galway Kinnell and Philip Levine, to cover just the first half of the alphabet. In addition to each daily poem, PD provides a brief bio of the featured poet along with information (jacket blurbs, a short description, etc.) about the book or periodical from which it has been selected. Following publication, daily poems are moved to PD's archive section, which includes all of the poems and attendant materials published in the last year. While some readers might complain that there is a decidedly capitalistic side to PD (the "News" section chiefly comprises newly-released titles linked directly to Amazon.com – which also runs the PD "Bookstore" – and editors Anderson, et al., freely admit that PD's goal, at least in part, is to help publishers bring news of their literary products to more people), PD is not merely a huckster for the wares of big-name publishers. While many daily selections are indeed chosen from the lists of houses like Knopf, Houghton Mifflin and Norton, poems are also selected from small press publishers, lit journals and chapbooks. This means that in addition to name brand poets like Ashbery and Doty, readers will also find plenty of work from lesser-knowns. Ultimately, the good that PD does far out-weighs any negatives. Simply put, there's no better place to sample – and for free, no less – such a diverse assortment of quality verse. Read PD every day, and in no time you'll have a pretty good handle on the various currents that are shaping contemporary poetry in English. You might even follow the instructions on the "About Poetry Daily" page and set PD as your homepage. It's a great way to feed your head before embarking on the rest of your daily surfing. Tell us what you think. Email talkback@pifmagazine.com Want Pif to review your zine? Tom Hartman has been a regular contributor to Pif since 1999. He lives in Philadelphia. |
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