Poetry

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Female poets step up to the mic

While down in Cambridge last August with a team of Portland poets for the semi-finals of the National Poetry Slam, Tricia Henley Pryce says, she never saw more than one woman up on stage at a time.
Could be verse
By MEGAN GRUMBLING | February 10, 2012

Review: Pariah

Compared to the non-stop trauma of Precious , or even Gun Hill Road , Dee Rees's first feature plays like an episode of The Cosby Show .
Dee Rees's first feature
By PETER KEOUGH | January 06, 2012

Whispers of immortality

'Twas the night before Christmas.
Failure
By KARL STEVENS | December 16, 2011

BSFC: Best Foreign Language Film

Winner in sudden death fourth round was Denis Villeneuve's "Incendies." The runners up: Asqhar Fahardi's "A Separation" and Lee Chang-dong's "Poetry."
By Peter Keough | December 11, 2011

The Ocean State Review makes its debut

Nick-a-Nee's bar was the venue for the recent launch of The Ocean State Review , the University of Rhode Island's new literary journal.
Letters
By TIM LEHNERT | November 04, 2011

Nicole Atkins finds peace in her darkness

A lot seemed to go wrong for Atkins after Columbia Records released her classic-pop imbued debut Neptune City four years ago. The singer of the newly rechristened Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea watched everyone responsible for getting her signed to a
Fade to black
By JONATHAN DONALDSON | August 12, 2011

A rose for Charlie, in song

On July 7, 1984, three teenagers threw 23-year-old Charlie Howard off of the State Street Bridge in Bangor.
In Memoriam
By DEIRDRE FULTON | July 08, 2011

'Past Life Martyred Saints' album from EMA

EMA | Past Life Martyred Saints

This hasn't been a bad year for music, but there haven't been a lot of songs that hit in such a way that there's a physical need to hear them again — immediately. But Past Life Martyred Saints, the solo debut from former Gowns frontlady Erika M. Anderse
Souterrain Transmissions (2011)
By RYAN STEWART | June 10, 2011

Thanks all around

"Thanks All Around" is the title of the opening section of Jaimy Gordon's novel, Shamp of the City-Solo (published in 1974).
Words for Waldrop; GOP = fun; some god news; random notes
By RUDY CHEEKS | May 13, 2011

Someone Should Tell Common And Sarah Palin That They Have The Same Stance On Abortion

Common's not an MC who subsides on beef. In fact he sports the opposite stereotype, and is more likely to trade noodle recipes with Mos...
By Chris Faraone | May 10, 2011

Performing words written en route to Auschwitz

It is barely conceivable how one woman, at a way station en route to Auschwitz, wrote so ardently of purple lupine.
Poetic collage
By BY MEGAN GRUMBLING | April 29, 2011

Review: Boston vs. NYC Slam Poetry Grudge Match at the Armory

For many, poetry slams are like open mike nights or not-drunk-enough Karaoke: powder-kegs for some serious collective embarrassment. It can be stifling, that shared awkwardness...
By Michael Goetzman | April 07, 2011

Whitcomb's legacy

It is unlikely that James Whitcomb Riley, a turn-of-the-century poet for a short time considered the heir to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ever envisioned his work accompanied by music quite like this.
Feel the poetry rattling your bones
By SAM PFEIFLE | March 25, 2011

Lee Chang-dong's oblique, affecting film

Mija (Yun Jung-hee) is 60ish but still a looker, a quality she's aware of. She dresses elegantly even when she's going about her chores as a cleaning woman — which include bathing Mr. Kang (Kim Hi-ra), the elderly, paralyzed patriarch of the family who'v
Poetic justice
By PETER KEOUGH | March 04, 2011

Photos: B. Dolan at the Western Front

B. Dolan perform live at the Western Front on February 11, 2011.
B. Dolan | Western Front | February 11, 2011
By DEREK KOUYOUMJIAN | February 18, 2011

Valentine's rhymes

Roses are rose ...
Hoopleville
By DAVID KISH | February 11, 2011

Iron & Wine | We Kiss Each Other Clean

Sam Beam, the bearded craftsman otherwise known as Iron & Wine, is the very personification of musical consistency.
Warner Bros. (2011)
By RYAN REED | February 04, 2011

Blood Wedding on January 15, at SPACE Gallery

Not a death-metal Billy Idol cover band but a lyrical tragedy written by Federico Garcia Lorca in 1932, last weekend's production of Blood Wedding at SPACE Gallery was at turns graceful and punishingly fraught.
Music seen
By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | January 21, 2011

Jenny Holzer's projections remake buildings

Jenny Holzer is not an architect, but in 2004, when she projected those words onto the stone facade of the Hotel Pennsylvania in Manhattan's Times Square, the historic building acquired a character it had never before seen.
Big words
By NICHOLAS SCHROEDER | December 03, 2010

Review: David Young knows where he's going

David Young's Selected and New Poems is a good book by a good poet. You'll have to take my word for that, because I am not going to quote from his poems.
Poet's progress
By WILLIAM CORBETT | October 29, 2010

Lit-snobs, hot librarians, and the rise of the literary tattoo

Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich was sitting down for a meal at Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, when she found herself under critique.
Bookmarked
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | October 08, 2010

Red Sox Nation, meet your new existential dread

For my entire life, I have esteemed the Red Sox above all other teams.
Balls, pucks, and monster trucks
By RICK WORMWOOD | October 08, 2010

Review: Howl

This meditation from documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman on what might be America's most famous poem succeeds more as a glimpse into a great artist's creative process than as a movie, though give it credit for ambition.
More of a whimper, really
By PETER KEOUGH | October 01, 2010

Where Maine reads

Perhaps the most exciting part of my day working at Longfellow Books was The Spider Incident, which involved said arachnid emerging from a potted plant around 10:30 am to terrorize staff members and scurry, unscathed, underneath a shelf.
A decade into Portland's indie-bookstore movement, brick-and-mortar shops are holding their own
By DEIRDRE FULTON | October 01, 2010

Interview: Maya Angelou shares her wisdom

Though poet, writer, performer, teacher, and director Maya Angelou has made several visits to Rhode Island over the past two decades, her words of wisdom are always pointed reminders to those who have heard her speak before and wake-up calls to those who
Dare to be courageous
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | September 17, 2010

Providence Student Survival Guide: List of lists

It's back-to-campus time. You've got shopping lists, book lists, syllabi, class rosters, and Facebook. Who would possibly think you could handle more lists? We would, that's who.
New to Vo Dilun? Trust us, you need this
By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX STAFF | September 03, 2010

Pimping his ride

This week, the Paul Revere Memorial Association and the Old South Meeting House kick off a free, month-long lecture series to take place at the latter.
History Dept.
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | September 03, 2010

A woman's writing conference comes to Brown

Hannelore Hahn understands the liberating power of writing.
Words, Words, Words
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | July 30, 2010

Marathon man

"Most poets can't tie their own shoes," says Jim Behrle. "They don't know what time it is."
Reclaiming the tea party, one poem at a time
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | July 30, 2010

Review: Basho Japanese Brasserie

Weirdly situated in the Fenway, this large restaurant from the owners of Back Bay's Douzo conveys an immediate sense of space well apportioned, with the minimalist fascination of the best haiku.
A tasty fusion of new and traditional Japanese fare
By ROBERT NADEAU | June 25, 2010

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