“Poet in the Pit: Slayer, Heavy Metal, and the Limits of Poetry” By Ernest Hilbert
Last year I wound up with a broken rib after spending an hour in a mosh pit at a Slayer concert. It took place on asphalt, at night, in torrential rain, ideal… Read More
“Black Woman” by Erica Dawson
“When Rap Spoke Straight to God is utterly transporting. In language both elevated and slangy, saucy and tender, Dawson lovingly weaves the reader around her finger.” - Jennifer Egan… Read More
“I wound up drinking everyone’s shots”: Luke Stromberg at the West Chester Story Slam
E-Verse's poetry editor Luke Stromberg hit up the West Chester Story Slam this week and gave us this fantastic anecdote about drinking and general debauchery (and inventive excuses the next morning) at… Read More
“Buck Creek” by Joshua Eric Williams
Joshua Eric Williams is the author of the chapbook The Distant Wild (2017). His work appears in Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Sonic Boom Journal, Measure, and many other online and print poetry outlets.… Read More
“Against Therapy” by Allison Joseph
Allison Joseph lives in Carbondale, Illinois, where she is Professor of English and Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Southern Illinois University. She serves as poetry editor… Read More
Swear Town on Beer Lake, Bloat Island in Rum Lake, the Town of Lick Spiggot on the Shores of Whiskey Lake . . .
Check out the "Temperance Map."… Read More
“Utøya” by John Wall Barger
John Wall Barger’s poems are forthcoming in American Poetry Review, Poetry Ireland Review, and The Antioch Review. His fourth poetry collection, The Mean Game, is coming out with Palimpsest Press in spring… Read More
Danny Shot on NJTV’s State of the Arts
The television program “State of the Arts New Jersey” devoted a recent segment to the Hoboken, New Jersey poet and editor Danny Shot. Lately, Danny has been roaming around the country reading… Read More
Ashley Anna McHugh’s New Poem “The Rite of Spring” appears in the latest installment of Cocytus: A Dark Web Magazine
What's lurking out there on the infamous Dark Web? A lot of unsavory activity and characters, to be sure. But poets? It's already got a reputation for hiding the worst human activity,… Read More
“False Elegy” by Brian Brodeur
Brian Brodeur is the author of the poetry collections Self-Portrait with Alternative Facts (2019), Natural Causes (2012) and Other Latitudes (2008), as well as the poetry chapbooks Local Fauna (2015) and So… Read More
“in the inner city” by Lucille Clifton
The love readers feel for Lucille Clifton—both the woman and her poetry—is constant and deeply felt. The lines that surface most frequently in praise of her work and her person are moving… Read More
Alberto Manguel and the Virtual Memories Podcast
I've really come to enjoy The Virtual Memories Show, hosted by the endlessly curious (and fascinating) Gil Roth, who roams far and wide to interview bookish people, authors, critics, librarians, illustrators, comic… Read More
“The Body was Dragged Some Distance Before it was Abandoned” and Others by Ernest Hilbert in Journal of American Poetry
My poem "The Body was Dragged Some Distance Before it was Abandoned" appears in Volume 5 of the American Journal of Poetry along with my poems "Until the Sea Above Us Closed… Read More
“The Man In The Dead Machine” by Donald Hall
“However wrenching [Hall’s poems] may be from line to line, they tell a story that is essentially reassuring: art and love are compatible, genius is companionable, and people stand by one another… Read More
Short Film of Richard Wilbur and Robert Lowell
This is a charming little film about Richard Wilbur and Robert Lowell made sometime in the early to mid-1960’s. In black and white footage, we see Wilbur in a suit (sometimes with… Read More
Photos from the Mexico City Performance of “Nights of 1998”
As E-Verse readers will know from earlier posts (here and here), my poem “Nights of 1998,” from my book All of You on the Good Earth, was set to music by composer… Read More
E-Verse Celebrates a New Book from Paul Siegell!
We here at E-Verse are enormous fans, fanatics, in fact, of Philadelphia poet Paul Siegell. It’s been too long since we’ve had a new book of his playful, innovative poetry to mull… Read More
“Plugging Up the Holes” by Nomi Stone
Nomi Stone’s second collection of poems, Kill Class is forthcoming from Tupelo Press in 2019. Winner of a 2018 Pushcart Prize, Stone’s poems appear recently or will soon in POETRY, American Poetry… Read More
“Memorial Days” by Ernest Hilbert
My poems “Memorial Days” and “Alpine” appear in the issue Issue 10:2 of Literary Matters, along with new writing “ranging from former U.S. Poets Laureate to a current High School Senior,” including… Read More
Episode Two of Works Cited: Kevin and the Lukes Talk About “My Story in a Late Style of Fire” by Larry Levis
“My Story in a Late Style of Fire” by Larry Levis Whenever I listen to Billie Holiday, I am reminded That I, too, was once banished from New York City. Not because… Read More
“Station” by Ishion Hutchinson
Ishion Hutchinson is a current Guggenheim Fellow in poetry. He is the author of two poetry collections, House of Lords and Commons and Far District. Born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, he moved… Read More
Christopher LaRosa’s setting of Ernest Hilbert’s poem “Nights of 1998” Headed for Mexico City
Composer Christopher LaRosa recently set to music my poem “Nights of 1998,” from my book All of You on the Good Earth, for a baritone accompanied by sinfonietta. The piece premiered on Thursday,… Read More
Works Cited: A New Poetry Podcast
It's a gritty, downright underground project right now, and I hope it catches on. I'm told they have the entire first season recorded, so we have much more to look forward to.… Read More
Ernest Hilbert’s Poem “Haunts” on NPR’s Morning Edition
A recording of my poem “Haunts” aired on WHYY FM, Philadelphia’s NPR Station, 90.9 MHz, as part of a National Poetry Month feature on Morning Edition, hosted by Jennifer Lynn. It's a… Read More
Ernest Hilbert Writes about Books in the Wall Street Journal
I had a chance to review three new books about books for the Spring books insert at the Wall Street Journal. Check it out.… Read More
Ernest Hilbert Reviews Daniel Kalder’s The Infernal Library for the Washington Post
Of all the genres one might imagine, dictator literature, books written by or on behalf of despots, must be among the most curious and troubling. I review Daniel Kalder's book The Infernal Library:… Read More
Hear and Watch Ernest Hilbert’s “Nights of 1998” Set to Music by Christopher LaRosa
You can now hear and watch "Nights of 1998" on a live stream here by clicking on "New Music Ensemble, David Dzubay director."… Read More
B-List Trump Facts from Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury
A few months ago, the book Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff, an expose of the Trump White House behind the scenes, got a lot of publicity. A few key dishy points… Read More
Ernest Hilbert Reviews John Y. Cole’s New History of the Library of Congress in the Washington Post
My review of a new history of the Library of Congress appears in today's Sunday Washington Post. Check it out. I notice they altered my bio slightly to make me a "dealer… Read More
Monday Poets at the Free Library Featuring Catherine Staples and Ernest Hilbert
Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103… Read More