As Janice May Udry once said, “A poem is nice.” Actually she said “A tree is nice,” which is actually a poem.  But the point is poems are nice.  So in honor of nice things and nice September afternoons, Bwog honors the 125th Birthday of William Carlos Williams.  Although the actual date of his birth, […]

Bwog editor Mariela Quintana tells you about a holiday you might have missed. There’s been a lot of talk about April being the cruelest month. But what’s everyone got against poor old April? Just look at the facts, April’s got the best holidays – April Fool’s, Earth Day, often Easter, occasionally Passover, always 4/20, and […]

In recent months, Bwog readers have risen from limerick-fearing philistines to haiku-handy aesthetes…and just in time for Poetry Month! And after all, rainy April is the perfect time for indoor sports like contemplation and reflection. For a gentle night on the town, consider this listing of poetry events. For the heavy-hearted and heavy-handed who can’t […]

In the great legacy of great Columbia-affiliated writerly-types, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced today that former professor Jean Valentine will be the next New York State Poet and Mary Gordon, Barnard McIntosh Professor of English, will be State Author.  Much like an elected congressman, the two will serve two terms and probably sit on […]

In our second poetry post of the day, Bwog is happy to announce that both of this week’s personals were offered dates. Pitr’s suitor–who would like to remain anonymous–had a particularly charming proposition, reprinted below. I have written a series of four haikus in order to try and explain why I love Pitr so, and […]

In which Bwog correspondent Hannah Goldfield discovers the delights of poetry taken unseriously. “I have one about bestiality, to the tune of ‘Son of a Preacherman’, but I don’t want to be that bestiality girl!” said a distressed young woman as the elevator door closed and we began our ascent to the James Room on […]

Adam Katz brings us a discussion of the October 17th talk sponsored by the Poetry Society of America on the life and poetry of Pablo Neruda. The Tribeca Performing Arts Center of the Borough of Manhattan Community College was set off by the blue and green lights to lend it the “wine-dark” appearance of a […]

Living on campus for the entire summer to organize a week of events (a big job, Bwog knows) leads to time spent on some odd activities. Like composing the bulk of an e-mail to OLs in rhyming couplets. Read the full update-in-verse after the jump. Also, bet you didn’t know this before you signed up: […]

Our source sez: The New Yorker poetry department receives over 1,000 submissions every week. Each of these is destined to be lovingly rejected by an intern, usually a Columbia grad student, with a carefully handwritten note. It’s understandable then that sometimes things get backed up. Really backed up. According to one of the interns, there […]

Packed with more old women and men than actual Barnard students, the Women Poets at Barnard’s final Spring 2006 lecture was insightful. The Sulzberger Parlor served as the perfect space for the intimate and soft spoken reading of poetry accompanied by free samples of wine among other refreshments. The Women Poets at Barnard reading series […]

Ever get the feeling that there is a dearth of public art on this campus? Bwog does too, which is why it is happy to share the wonderful geopolitics-themed poetry that it found not that long ago, in a Lehman cubicle. May you be uplifted through art.

Boredatbutler.com has a nifty new feature that lists the top 100 words used on the site. As expected, raunchy words dominate the list – Bwog is especially fond of the delicious liaison between the latest top 5 words “sex” (1), “butler” (2), “people” (3), “fuck” (4) and “need” (5) – but there are some notable […]

Everyday the Bwog finds a new reason to love Craigslist. Thanks to reader Anna for tipping us off to the site’s Haiku Forum and for sending us a few choice selections. Fun with Dick and Kitty < lovepoet > 02/08 12:44:5 remember that game we played – hide the salami… that was so much fun! […]

Posters for the Taiwanese Student Association’s spring general meeting (with seductively posed Asian women): Haiku – ‘The Freaky feeling’ She gives me a look Sweating, I walk towards her Damn yellow fever. The haiku is a traditional Japanese form of poetry, making the TSA’s statement either a capitulation to the imperialist force of Japanese culture, […]