Ana Maria Caballero

Stay Inside

June 9, 2015 by Ana Maria Caballero

The other day, I read a poem whose beginning I didn’t quite like. But, it was weird enough to keep me hooked to its very last line, which made me laugh out loud and reread the poem several times, appreciating it more and more with each go. The piece is by poet Paul Violi, who published eleven collections of poetry during his lifetime and continues to be published after his death. Violi received two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, nearly every […]

Categories: Ana Maria Caballero, ZiR • Tags: humor, literature, poetry, reading, writing

At Every Wedding

May 26, 2015 by Ana Maria Caballero

Not many young adult authors launch their novels with a poem, much less a two-page piece that transcends their target demographic. So I was surprised to find the poem below on the very first page of bestselling YA author Sarah Dessen‘s novel “That Summer.” The poem is by South Carolina author Dannye Romine Powell, an award-winning poet, writer and long-time book editor at the “Charlotte Observer,” who counts a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship among her accolades. More of her beautifully crafted pieces […]

Categories: Ana Maria Caballero, Archives, ZiR • Tags: books, literature, love, poetry, reading, writing

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Seen and Felt

May 12, 2015 by Ana Maria Caballero

Poetry bears witness to events that surround it, sure. But it is not the news. It is not an opinion column either. It dips its slippery toe into telling, showing, and expressing so as to permit each reader to recreate the very event over and over anew and on a personal basis. Such a feat is perhaps simpler to accomplish when the events in question are household, such as a divorce, a child, aging. But when the event relates to the fate of political […]

Categories: Ana Maria Caballero, ZiR • Tags: books, History, literature, poetry, writing

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What Work Is

April 7, 2015 by Ana Maria Caballero

I recently came across a remarkable poem by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Philip Levine thanks to a blog I sometimes read. As remarkable as the poem (below) is, I am even more grateful that it led me to an utterly delicious interview of Levine conducted by Mona Simpson in The Paris Review. Few interviews of poets can be described as page-turners, but this one certainly is. What Work Is We stand in the rain in a long line waiting at Ford Highland Park. […]

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A Drinker of Life

March 31, 2015 by Ana Maria Caballero

Columbia Magazine, The Guardian and various other media outlets published moving articles to commemorate poet John Berryman’s centennial,. For those who don’t know much about the poet, it is a great opportunity to get to know him. For those who do, it is perhaps a chance to learn something new, something more. “Columbia Magazine’s” piece includes several excerpts from the poet’s work, along with “He Resigns” below: He Resigns Age, and the deaths, and the ghosts. Her having gone away in spirit from […]

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A Bad Time for Poetry

March 23, 2015 by Ana Maria Caballero

A few nights ago I dreamt that a close friend and I were stalking Bertolt Brecht in Paris. Since I rarely have such intellectual dreams, I took it as a sign to read some of the German writer and thinker’s work. Although Brecht is perhaps best remembered for his contributions to theater, he is also considered to be one of the greatest German poets that ever lived. Brecht’s approach to poetry, as opposed to the way in which he took on […]

Categories: Ana Maria Caballero, ZiR • Tags: books, History, literature, poetry, reading, theater, writing

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Ireland’s Favorite Poem

March 17, 2015 by Ana Maria Caballero

Ireland may be known for St. Patrick’s day, and the heavy beer drinking involved. But, it is also known for the many legendary writers that came from its rolling green hills. James Joyce, William Butler Yeats and, most recently, Seamus Heaney all called Ireland their home. This year, RTE, the national broadcaster, hosted a contest aimed at identifying the country’s most-loved poem written in the last century. The winner is a sonnet by Seamus Heaney called “When all the others were […]

Categories: Ana Maria Caballero, ZiR • Tags: books, Ireland, literature, poetry, reading, writing

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Go Medieval on Your Verse

March 10, 2015 by Ana Maria Caballero

One of my favorite blogs is called “Interesting Literature.” It is just that, a site with interesting, often very random, facts about literature and literary history. A few weeks ago they published a piece called “10 Short Medieval Poems Everyone Should Read.” Fear not. The poems included are only a few lines long and translation is provided, so they are very easy to read. Sure, the poems’ subject matter may seem simplistic, almost pre-adolescently romantic. But it is nevertheless fascinating to have […]

Categories: Ana Maria Caballero, ZiR • Tags: art, books, culture, History, medieval poetry, poetry, reading, writing

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What Doesn’t Change

February 24, 2015 by Ana Maria Caballero

Written by Arab-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye, the poem below is launched in a childish tone, but closes in a distinctly mature voice. For me, this combination of child/adult voices is what makes the poem interesting, what makes it work. Otherwise, the piece stands the risk of being another doe-eyed “barrio” poem. But it is not. It is a rather masterful poem representative of Nye’s highly respected and abundant body of work. Trying to Name What Doesn’t Change Roselva says the […]

Categories: Ana Maria Caballero, ZiR • Tags: books, literature, poet, poetry, reading, writers, writing