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We've got a special Valentine-y guest post today from Jerry Williams, who edited (and wrote the introduction for!) IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S ME: THE POETRY OF BREAKUP. If you're looking for a fun activity for this evening that won't involve underwhelming prix-fixe menus and "he went to Jared," stop by KGB Bar (85 E. 4th St., NYC) at 7 p.m. to hear Jerry (with Donna Masini, David Lehman, and Kenneth Hart) wax poetic. Hope to see you there!

Happy Valentines Day, everyone. I was thinking about calling the internet to find out where the apostrophe goes in Valentines, but I’m going to restrain myself. That’s not to say the apostrophe isn’t an incredible piece of punctuation, especially on V-Day, although it does imply possession—e.g. Tim’s television, Shelby’s apartment, Jerry’s old typewriter. No one should own anyone in a relationship. Yes, this seems like a pretty obvious directive, but who among us has not witnessed instances of what I call Interpersonal Colonization: one person lording it over another for reasons known only to the couple? I’ve been waiting years to use this terminology, but I could never find the context—until now, as they say in movie trailers and infomercials. That said, tonight you should attend an anti-V-Day poetry reading triggered by my anthology, It’s Not You, It’s Me: The Poetry of Breakup, featuring David Lehman, Donna Masini, Kenneth Hart, and yours truly. I can’t believe I just wrote that. Yours truly. Who says that? Anyway, the reading is at KGB Bar at 85 E. 4th Street at 7 p.m. Since you’ll probably hear a lot of very negative material about romantic love, I thought I would offer up an Anti-Anti Saint Valentine’s Day (I looked it up) poem that I wrote a couple years ago. Up to that point, rest assured, I was just like you, suffering through one relationship debacle after another—boom! boom! boom! like a relationship blitzkrieg. So here’s that poem. For my wife, Shelby. On Valentine’s Day.

Bed, Bath, and Beyond

Days, maybe weeks, before the first

whole night t

1 Comments on A Very Jerry Williams Valentine's Day, last added: 2/16/2011

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Rose Umbrella said, on 2/15/2011 3:24:00 PM

Would love to read this book!
Thanks,
Iris

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Join Jerry Williams and a stellar cast of heartbroken poets for evening of poetry at KGB Bar in Manhattan, Thursday, February 25, at 7pm.

It's Not You, It's Me editor Jerry Williams will be joined by Peter Covino, Martha Rhodes, and Linda Gregg for poetry readings, storytelling, and non-stop entertainment!

Jerry Williams teaches creative writing at Marymount Manhattan College, and has two collections of poetry Casino of the Sun (2003, Carnegie Mellon University Press) and Admission (2010, Carnegie Mellon University Press). His poetry and nonfiction have appeared in American Poetry Review, Tin House, Pleiades among others. He currently lives in New York City.

Linda Gregg is the author of seven poetry collections: Too Bright to See; Alma; The Sacraments of Desire; Chosen by the Lion; Things and Flesh; In the Middle Distance; and All of it Singing: New and Collected Poems. In 2006 she received the PEN/Voelcker Award in Poetry for her career achievement. She live in New York City.

Peter Covino is an Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Rhode Island. Winner of the 2007 PEN America/Osterweil Award for Emerging Poets, he is the author of Cut Off the Ears of Winter as well as the chapbook Straight Boyfriend. Recent poems have appeared in The Paris Review, Colorado Review, Gulf Coast, and others. He is the founding editor of Barrow Street.

Martha Rhodes is the author of three collections of poetry: At the Gate, Perfect Disappearance, and Mother Quiet. She teaches at Sarah Lawrence College, and in the M.F.A. program at Warren Wilson College. She is also the founding editor and director of Four Way Books.

The New York literary landmark KGB Bar, will host Warren Adler, author of Funny Boys, and Nina Siegal, at this Sunday's Fiction Series, March 16, 7-9pm. Warren Adler is the author of 30 books, including 5 collections of short stories and 25 novels. He is known worldwide for his classic tale of battling spouses, The War of the Roses. His new novel, Funny Boys, will be published on March 26.

Today we are happy to present the third post in Diane and Michael Ravitch’s series on Moreover. They are the authors of THE ENGLISH READER: What Every Literate Person Needs To Know, .

For decades, professors of pedagogy have preached the gospel of Relevance. According to this gospel, students will have greater motivation to learn if their lessons are about their own lives, or if they can read stories about people just like themselves. (more…)

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