Essays & Assays

Here you'll find an ever-growing collection of essays, articles, interviews and various discussions on "things poetic," "thing literary," and other themes.  Please bookmark this page and visit it often, as we hope to plaster the ether with all sorts of fascinating opinions on our favorite topics . . .

New

THT's Second Interview with Richard Moore

"I remember ..." an essay by Urmila Subbarao

"
The Totems of Poetry," an essay by Dr. Joseph S. Salemi

Archive

"Can Poetry Matter?" an essay by Dana Gioia

"Hearing from Poetry's Audience," a follow-up to "Can Poetry Matter?" by Dana Gioia

"Poetic Meter in English: Roots and Possibilities," an essay by Richard Moore

"On Rhyme," an essay by Richard Moore

"The Mystique of the Difficult Poem," an essay by Steve Kowit

"The Professionalization of Poetry," an essay by David Alpaugh

A book review of the second edition of Blood to Remember: American Poets on the Holocaust, edited by Charles Adés Fishman, reviewed by Michael R. Burch.

A book review of Blood to Remember: American Poets on the Holocaust, reviewed by Laurel Johnson.

A book review of Richard Moore's Buttoned Into History, reviewed by Eleanor Goodman

Interview of Michael R. Burch by Judy "Joy" Jones of On The Road With Judy

Jeffrey Woodward's essay on Amy Clampitt published by Umbrella

Jeffrey Woodward's valuable resource for poets and poetry lovers entitled "An Annotated Checklist of English Versification," which currently appears on The Barefoot Muse

"'Fine, even beautiful,' just not for us," a brief piece about a poetry submission gone awry

"The Journey to Unity," an essay by Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen

"The Self: A Consideration," an essay by Richard Moore
 
A collection of essays by Jack Butler

"Are Women Underrepresented in the Small Press?" a dueling essay by Charles P. Ries and Ellaraine Lockie

"Thomas Stearns Eliot, an Early Re-assessment for the New Century" an essay by Joe Ruggier

"I, Human," an essay by Esther Cameron with a brief introduction by Michael R. Burch

"The Balancer:  Yeats and His Supernatural System," an essay by Richard Moore

"Romanticism Then and Now," a collection of Romantic poetry from caveman days to the present, with an introduction by Michael R. Burch

A response to "Poetry is Dead.  Does Anybody Really Care?" by Michael R. Burch

"All Gay Today," an essay by Zyskandar Jaimot

Interview with Richard Moore

Interview with Esther Cameron (includes her essay "Synchronizing Our Watches: Thoughts Toward a Macropoetics")

Interview with Tony Marco

Links to essays by Elie Wiesel

What Really Makes Us Free

Are We Afraid Of Peace?

When Passion Is Dangerous

Have You Learned the Most Important Lesson of All?

The America I Love

How Can We Understand Their Hatred?

We Choose Honor

For more information about Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel, click here.

Esther Cameron's Point & Circumference Homage to Paul Celan has a number of excellent essays

And here's a link to the excellent Norton Poets Online poetry page for Paul Celan (hint: read the poetry first!)

Esther Cameron personally recommends the University of Wisconsin's Paul Celan page

A review of THT's Holocaust Poetry, by Esther Cameron

The Powow River Anthology looks to be a landmark publication, featuring some of the best contemporary poets working in meter and rhyme. Please check it out and order forthwith!

A Commentary on THT featured poet Nadia Anjuman by Laurel Johnson

A book review of Harvey Stanbrough's Beyond the Masks, reviewed by Freada Dillon

A book review of Tom Merrill's Outlaw's Retreat, reviewed by Laurel Johnson of Midwest Book Review

A book review of Mary Keelan Meisel's 42 Poems in Rhyme & Meter, reviewed by Laurel Johnson of Midwest Book Review

A book review of Emery Campbell's This Gardener's Impossible Dream, reviewed by Ethelene Dyer Jones

A book review of Joe Ruggier's Pope Caesar's Wake, reviewed by Laurel Johnson of Midwest Book Review

A website review of The HyperTexts, reviewed by Laurel Johnson of Midwest Book Review

A book review of the third revised edition of Joe Ruggier's This Eternal Hubbub, reviewed by Laurel Johnson

A book review of the third revised edition of Joe Ruggier's This Eternal Hubbub, reviewed by Mike Burch

A book review of Esther Cameron's The Consciousness of Earth, reviewed by CarrieAnn Thunnell

A book review of Esther Cameron's The Consciousness of Earth, reviewed by Michael R. Burch

A review of Joe Ruggier's "From Door-to-Door to CD-ROM" by Esther Cameron 

A review of Joe Ruggier's Songs of Gentlest Reflection, by Mary Rae

A review of Joe Ruggier's Songs of Gentlest Reflection, by Michael R. Burch