It’s rare for me to come across a fellow poetry lover these days who isn’t some flavor of English. Poetry gets a bad rap for being esoteric, obtuse, unnecessarily complicated or convoluted, or pretentious. I’m not here to say that poetry like that doesn’t exist (just as there is prose that carries these not so […]
poetry
What You Reading For?
By Brendan Brown
Forgive the assumption, but it seems like a pretty safe bet that you, dear Ooligan-blog reader, are the sort of person who spends a not-insignificant amount of time exploring physical and digital bookshelves in search of the next book to add to your “To Read” stack. If you’re anything like me, your approach to this […]
Finding a Niche for Poetry
By Kristin Choruby
In the world of publishing, poetry is one of those areas where bigger is not better. Poems rarely excite the interest of the general readership, and as such, the major publishing houses will usually decide that any given book in the genre is simply not worth their time, effort, or money. After all, when was […]
Trippingly of the Tongue: an (In)complete Look at Ongoing Reading Series in Portland
By Brian Tibbetts
Portland is a city known for being well read, highly literate, and highly supportive of the literary arts in general. This reputation seems well deserved. Portland is home to the world’s largest bookstore, Powell’s City of Books,boasts one of the best-attended writer’s lecture series in the nation, Portland Arts and Lectures, and houses a great […]
Backlist to the Future: American Scream: Palindrome Apocalypse
By Margaret Schimming
Everyone dreams of something. Winning the lottery. Starting their own business. Publishing a book. From little children to adults, dreams fly through our heads, but what doesn’t are the potential detours we take when on our way to realizing these dreams. Where we end up is not necessarily the place that we intended to be, […]
Backlist to the Future: Killing George Washington
By Tyler Mathieson
Lets starts with a bit of honesty; I don’t usually read poetry. In fact, I’ll go ahead and admit I don’t care for it. I’m a fan of books beginning to end. Intro, climax, resolution, ending. Character development and intricately described settings are what make me flip from page to page, and I have never […]