“Summer” by Lucien Stryk
A translator and influential practitioner of Zen poetics, Lucien Stryk was born in Kolo, Poland, in 1924. He moved to Chicago with his family in 1927 and studied at Indiana University; the… Read More
“Barrier Island” by J.S. Renau
J. S. Renau is a native of Charleston, S.C. For 15 years, Mr. Renau lived in New York and worked as a marketing consultant and speechwriter. In 2012, he relocated to rural… Read More
“Going Upstairs to Bed” by Stephen Berg
Stephen Berg was the founder of The American Poetry Review and the author of many collections of poetry and translations, including Halo, Rimbaud: Versions and Inventions, The Elegy on Hats, and 58… Read More
Nate Kostar with Justin “J-Boogie” Hatchter
Last Friday I had the pleasure to read at the Philadelphia's storied Sketch Club, the oldest continually operating arts club in the country, for Kelly McQuain and Dawn Manning's PoetDelphia series. After my… Read More
Celebrate Bloomsday from Your Desk with New Dublin Press’s Recording of Joyce’s Masterpiece, Ulysses
Today is June 16th, the day Joyce's famous character Leopold Bloom wanders the streets of Dublin, encountering all manner of trouble and triumph as the modern mock heroic variation on Homer's Odysseus.… Read More
“Strung” by Ernest Hilbert (With Audio)
Ernest Hilbert is the author of two collections of poetry, Sixty Sonnets and All of You on the Good Earth, as well as a spoken word album recorded with rock band and… Read More
Excerpt from the Epic, Book-Length Poem Heimat by Quincy R. Lehr
Quincy R. Lehr is the author of several collections, as well as the imminently forthcoming Heimat. He is the associate editor of The Raintown Review, and he lives in Brooklyn, where he… Read More
Listen to Some Students Read Ernest Hilbert’s “Domestic Situation” for the National Poetry Out Loud Competition
Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest was created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, administered in partnership with the State Arts Agencies of all 50 states, the… Read More
Ernest Hilbert at Large
My publisher has always been attentive to developments, such as they are, in my writing career, such as it is, and kindly shares that information publicly in a most professional manner. Here… Read More
“Café Future” by David Yezzi
David Yezzi’s poetry collections include Azores (2008) and The Hidden Model (2003), and his criticism and poetry have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, and Best… Read More
“Delirium in Vera Cruz” by Malcolm Lowry
"Although his literary reputation rests primarily on his novels, Malcolm Lowry (1909-57) considered himself to be a poet, and he composed an extensive poetic canon. No reliable edition of Lowry's poetry currently… Read More
“Entertainment Destination” by Ernest Hilbert
The Raintown Review is a perfect-bound, semi-annual journal. We have published the works of established and up-and-coming writers such as Dick Allen, Jared Carter, Patrick Chapman, Jehanne Dubrow, Annie Finch, Kevin Higgins,… Read More
“You’ve Just Got To Face the Ugly Realities Of It”: Ernest Hilbert Interviewed by Ken Michaels on NPR-Affiliate WDIY 80.1
Last April, radio personality Ken Michaels interviewed me for his arts program "Musings" on NPR-Affiliate WDIY 80.1FM Allentown/Bethlehem. We talked about All of You on the Good Earth, influences, inspirations, music, and… Read More
“Influence”: A New Film about Autism from Michael and Meredith Bergman
"The last time I directed a movie was in 2006, two years before our son Dan pierced his autism by learning to communicate by spelling. Our world was unimaginably different then. This… Read More
Nhu Vuong Reads Ernest Hilbert’s “Domestic Situation” for Poetry Out Loud
Check out a video of one of the Poetry Out Loud contestants performing Ernest Hilbert's poem "Domestic Situation."… Read More
Mercury Radio Theater’s “I Don’t Owe You No More” on the Static Sessions
Mercury Radio Theater is Philadelphia's conceptual rockabilly/punk monster/sci fi with a zydeco twist band (or, in their more concise appellation, "Punk Rock Exotica"). With three LPs to date, the band is known… Read More
Elegies & Laments in the Raintown Review
The editors of Raintown Review have kindly granted me permission to reproduce online a review of my album Elegies & Laments, recorded for Pub Can Records with the band Legendary Misbehavior, featuring… Read More
“Save Earth” by Ernest Hilbert
The Raintown Review is a perfect-bound, semi-annual journal. We have published the works of established and up-and-coming writers such as Dick Allen, Jared Carter, Patrick Chapman, Jehanne Dubrow, Annie Finch, Kevin Higgins,… Read More
“It Would Have Meant Death, Or At Least a Flogging”: Watch the Rehearsals and Preparations for the Premiere of Stella Sung’s Opera Red Silk Thread: An Epic Tale of Marco Polo after a Libretto by Ernest Hilbert
This series of short videos includes brief interviews with composer Stella Sung and director Beth Greenberg, along with the singers, choreographer, dancers, costume designer, digital effects team, and members of the chorus.… Read More
“I Can Picture Hilbert in a Drunken Brawl with Christopher Marlowe. I Mean this as a Compliment”: All of You on the Good Earth Reviewed in The New Criterion
The April poetry issue of The New Criterion is now available: Bruce Bawer discusses Marianne Moore's life and art, William Logan considers Emily Dickinson's envelope poems, and David Yezzi addresses the musicality… Read More
If You Text While You Drive, Stop. Just Stop It. Now. Werner Herzog Agrees.
"There's a completely new culture out there. I'm not a participant of texting and driving—or texting at all—but I see there's something going on in civilization which is coming with great vehemence… Read More
“Almanac” by Kelly Grovier
Kelly Grovier is the founder of the scholarly journal European Romantic Review and a regular contributor to the Observer and the Times Literary Supplement. He is a lecturer in English and Creative… Read More
From Joachim Du Bellay’s Les Antiquitez de Rome
Karl Kirchwey is the author of six books of poems, A Wandering Island (Princeton University Press, 1990; recipient of the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America), Those… Read More
Books are Dead, Blah Blah Blah, Yeah, Yeah, Now Hold On Just One Minute and Look at This
Thanks to Andrew for sending this one in. … Read More
Do You Like it When Cats Purr? You Should, It Might Just Save Your Life: This Handy Chart Explains
So next time a cat gets on your lap and purrs, don't push it off!… Read More
Get Ready to Scroll Through a Scale Model of the Solar System
Click on the box below to visit the site and take off through our solar system. Fun!… Read More
E-Verse Equinox Returns to Ring in the Spring with Poets Sarah Arvio, Jenn McCreary, and Harry Robert Stoneback
Sarah Arvio, author of Night Thoughts (2013), with Jenn McCreary, author of & Now My Feet Are Maps (2013), and H.R. Stoneback, author of Hurricane Hymn (2009), hosted by Ernest Hilbert. Open… Read More
Five Poems from the “Haunted Forest” Sequence by Jenn McCreary
Jenn McCreary’s new full-length collection, & now my feet are maps, is now available from Dusie Press. Other works include The Dark Mouth of Living (Horse Less Press), :ab ovo: (Dusie Press),… Read More
It’s Friday, So Here’s a Local Philly Cat Playing Piano with a Full Orchestra
Because you need to see this too. And you're welcome. … Read More
Anna Calvi Absolutely Kills Us with Three Songs on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert
Three songs from her self-titled debut, "River To The Sea," "Surrender," and "Jezebel."… Read More