FEATURES

An Interview with Jake Adam York  
In April of 2005, poet and critic Jake Adam York met with Blackbird editor Gregory Donovan at the annual Associated Writing Programs' conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. They talked about the four poems published in Blackbird, Vol. 3 No. 2, and about York's forthcoming poetry collection, Murder Ballads.

A Reading and Talk by Ron Carlson  
On March 24, 2005, writer and teacher Ron Carlson gave a reading of his work at Virginia Commonwealth University. The next day, he met with students and faculty of VCU's MFA Program in Creative Writing to discuss his writing and the ways in which he approaches it.

Readings by Victoria Chang and Cecily Parks  
At the Sewanee Writers' Conference in July of 2005, Victoria Chang and Cecily Parks recorded poems published, respectively, in Blackbird, Vol. 3 No. 2 and Blackbird, Vol. 4 No. 1.

A Reading by Alan Shapiro  
On January 26, 2005, poet Alan Shapiro read at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts as part of Poetic Principles. This series, sponsored by the Virginia Museum and New Virginia Review, Inc., brings to Richmond the best poets, writers, critics, and translators at work today. Shapiro read primarily from his collections Song and Dance (Houghton Mifflin, 2002) and Tantalus in Love (Houghton Mifflin, 2005).

Harley Momma, by John Bresland  
Blackbird presents "Harley Momma," a radio essay by John Bresland, whose video essay "Les Cruel Shoes" appears in this issue's Gallery. Originally published in the Iowa City Press-Citizen (July 21, 2003), "Harley Momma" discusses a son's reaction when he discovers his 57-year-old mother is preparing to "take a Fat Boy cross country."

A Reading by Dean Young  
On March 3, 2005, poet Dean Young read at Virginia Commonwealth University as part of the VCU Visiting Writers Series. Following an introduction by David Wojahn, senior poet in VCU's MFA Program in Creative Writing, Young read several of his works, concluding with the title poem from his most recent book, Elegy on Toy Piano (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005).

A Reading by Allison Joseph  
On March 2, 2005, poet Allison Joseph read at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts as part of Poetic Principles. This series, sponsored by the Virginia Museum and New Virginia Review, Inc., brings to Richmond the best poets, writers, critics, and translators at work today. Joseph read from several of her collections, concluding with a selection from her latest, Worldly Pleasures (Word Press, 2004).

A Reading by Richard Bausch  
On February 23, 2005, novelist and short story writer Richard Bausch read at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts as part of Poetic Principles. This series, sponsored by the Virginia Museum and New Virginia Review, Inc., brings to Richmond the best poets, writers, critics, and translators at work today. Bausch read the short story "Par," from the collection Someone to Watch Over Me (HarperCollins, 1999), dedicating it to "my friend Pierre, who's in the audience, who is a scratch golfer."

Readings by Paisley Rekdal, Terese Svoboda, and Terri Witek  
At the AWP Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, in spring 2005, Paisley Rekdal, Terese Svoboda, and Terri Witek recorded works published in previous issues of Blackbird. Their readings have been added to those archived issues and also made available here.

Introductions: A Reading Loop
Sarah Bednarek, Jennifer Dickinson, Neil Grimmett, Jennifer L. Knox, and Brian Teare might not be names with which you are yet familiar, though that may be about to change. We at Blackbird are pleased with the opportunity to introduce you to the striking and memorable work of these four writers and one visual artist—a sampling of eye-opening, skillfully crafted and ingenious work which demonstrates the remarkable promise and ability that are present in the new voices of contemporary art. In fact, they are joined in this issue by a number of writers whose work demonstrates the varied and vigorous efforts emerging in the 21st century, allowing us a measure of optimism about at least one arena of human enterprise in our time. We invite you to join us in welcoming such work.

New features are published at least once a month. If you would like to be notified by email when new features are published, please click the Subscribe button to your left. Please note that subscription is free, and your email address will not be sold or shared.