Link Wednesday – John Updike, the Obamas, poetry slamming
Against all odds, the feature returns. This will be playing a bit of catch-up, touching on some stories over the past couple of weeks.
- On January 27 John Updike passed away. He was best known for his prose work (books like Rabbit, Run), but was also a well-regarded poet. Much has been written about him, but this obituary from the New York times was particularly well-written and thoughtful.
- The Times also printed a poem from his forthcoming collection:
Requiem
It came to me the other day:
Were I to die, no one would say,
“Oh, what a shame! So young, so full
Of promise — depths unplumbable!”Instead, a shrug and tearless eyes
Will greet my overdue demise;
The wide response will be, I know,
“I thought he died a while ago.”For life’s a shabby subterfuge,
And death is real, and dark, and huge.
The shock of it will register
Nowhere but where it will occur.— JOHN UPDIKE
- The North Carolina Literary Festival website has finally been launched. It will be hosted by UNC-Chapel Hill from September 10-13 2009. More as it develops.
- A little slam poetry about Barack and Michelle Obama’s imagined first date. Make of it as you will. (link courtesy of nataline).
- Continuing with poetry slam, NPR features four poets and their writings about love. We here at potw.org may have missed Valentine’s Day by a few days, but you can still check it out. The link includes text and readings.