Blackbird an online journal of literature and the arts Fall 2007  Vol. 6 No. 2

A joint venture of the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University and New Virginia Review, Inc.

 

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FEATURES

Tenth Annual Levis Prize Reading  audio icon
April 1, 2008
   
On September 27, 2007, the Department of English and the Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing at Virginia Commonwealth University celebrated the awarding of the Tenth Annual Levis Reading Prize to Joshua Weiner for The Book of Giants. Terry Oggel, VCU English Department Chair, along with Gregory Donovan and David Wojahn, introduced the event. Weiner read poems from his winning book, as well as unpublished work.   The Book of the Giants
     
A Conversation with Joshua Weiner
April 1, 2008
   
On September 28, 2007, Joshua Weiner discussed with Blackbird editor Gregory Donovan, and contributing editor David Wojahn, the political and the personal in poetry, the choices involved in working with free verse and received forms, the composition of his poems, and other subjects.   Joshua Weiner
     
A Conversation with Khaled Mattawa  audio icon
Feb 8, 2008
   
On November 27, 2007, Jeff Lodge and Patty Paine spoke with Khaled Mattawa, on Virginia Commonwealth University's Qatar campus, about his work as a writer and translator.

In addition, Mattawa's poem “The Old House With Thee” appears in this issue of Blackbird. A recording of the poem made in Doha, Qatar is now available with the text of the poem.
  Khaled Mattawa
     
A Conversation with Janet Peery  audio icon
Jan 8, 2008         
   

August 9, 2007, Blackbird editor Mary Flinn spoke to Janet Peery about her book What the Thunder Said, a series of linked stories and a novella. The book’s prologue first appeared in Blackbird v4n2, fall 2005, as “How Beautiful Thy Feet With Shoes.” With Flinn, Peery discusses her process, the concept of interconnected stories vs. a “traditional novel structure,” influences of other writers, and more. Peery ends by reading a passage from the novella section of the book.

  Janet Peery
     
Audio for Archive  audio icon 
Dec 20, 2007
   

Streaming audio of poems in Blackbird's v5n2 archive, recorded by our editors and staff at the 2007 Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference in Atlanta, now appear in the Blackbird archives. These seven recordings include a poem each by Ann Fisher-Wirth (pictured right), Robert Lopez, and Valerie Nieman, as well as two poems each by Rachel Richardson and Laura Van Prooyen.

  Ann Fisher-Wirth
     
Levis Remembered  audio icon 
Nov 1, 2007
   

Welcome to Blackbird’s sixth Levis Remembered, a visit with the poetry and voice of Larry Levis and an introduction to the tenth annual Levis Reading Prize winner, Joshua Weiner.

Join us in discovering Joshua Weiner’s remarkable poems and in remembering Larry’s matchless witness to the last decades of the twentieth century.

  Larry Levis
     

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