features

I have been lucky enough to know Farrah Field for quite a few years now. I can still remember reading her first book, Rising and thinking whoa, this is my friend! Over the years, our friendship and my admiration have resulted in many passing birthdays, traveling around Japan, and of course, a whole lot of poetry.  Since Four Way Books has released her second book, I figured it was a perfect time to check in with Farrah for a chat.* Below, we discuss books, babies, touring, and all …

Shine Louder: Amanda Nadelberg

Interview by Nick Sturm

Amanda Nadelberg is the author of Bright Brave Phenomena (Coffee House Press, 2012), Isa the Truck Named Isadore (Slope Editions, 2006), and a chapbook, Building Castles in Spain, Getting Married, (The Song Cave, 2009). She lives in Oakland. Bright Brave Phenomena was included in Coldfront’s Top 40 Poetry Books of 2012.

I first encountered Amanda’s poems on Wendy Xu’s couch in Northampton, MA. Their staggering belief was immediately absorbed into my experience of that trip.

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It is an incredible pleasure for me to introduce this snapshot with Jackie Clark to you, dear readers. Jackie is a tireless editor here at Coldfront Magazine and an avid supporter of poetry. In the interview below we chat about how her debut book of poems came to be published by Brooklyn Arts Press, her work as an editor for Coldfront Magazine, Jersey pride, the ability to “dream bigger” and a lot more.

“All Occurrences Are Muted And Starred Until You Remember There Is An Outside Out There”

SK: Hi …

Jon Davis is an unassuming man.

He is tall, thin, wears glasses. Every time I’ve seen him he has been wearing a loose-fitting linen shirt. Maybe I’ve only seen him in warm weather. He wears bright turquoise earrings. This stands out. The studs seem part of him.

Jon Davis is quietly hilarious.

At his reading May 23rd at Collected Works he opened with a quick anecdote of him playing basketball with some teens in Marfa, Texas. Beyoncé was visiting the town and while playing they discussed the singer’s hotness. …

I first came across Eric Baus‘s work in early 2005 after a co-worker mentioned his name to me. Shortly after this I saw his book, The To Sound at St. Mark’s Bookstore. The cover caught my eye and it was published by Verse Press (now Wave) who had also published a book by Sawako Nakayasu which I was more than a little smitten with.  I bought Baus’s book and have been eagerly following his work ever since. For me, Baus creates entire worlds within his poetry which …

I first met  Amy Lawless in 2005. She had recently moved to New York City from Boston and I from Portland. We were both entering the MFA program at The New School. It was exciting and terrifying in all the best ways. Post-graduation we eventually found ourselves living in the same Brooklyn neighborhood. There were brunches, late nights, and a seemingly endless amount of readings all over the city. Amy now lives in the East Village and I in Miami. Time passes; things change. Earlier this year, Amy’s second collection …

 Out in the World: Rae Armantrout

Interview by John Deming

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Rae Armantrout’s new book, Just Saying, was released in February. I interviewed her at the AWP Conference in Boston in March; the following has been transcribed and edited. There is a review of Just Saying here.

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Your poems are both fragmented and lyrical. How conscious are you of musical phrases in your writing, and how are …

Poems in the Public Square: Jen Benka

Interview by John Deming

Jen Benka opens her latest poetry book, Pinko, with these lines: “push the needle of the pen burning sensation / then pour grief in // there are many kinds of loss.” The lines underscore a theme that has coursed through Benka’s entire professional career: that language can be transformative. The former Managing Director of Poets & Writers, she was named Executive Director of …

Interview by Nick Sturm

S.E. Smith is the author of I Live in a Hut, selected by Matthea Harvey as the winner of the 2011 Cleveland State University Poetry Center First Book Prize. Co-founder of Line Assembly, and co-editor, with Adam Atkinson, of OH NO Books, she is a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at UT Austin and is currently at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. I Live in a Hut was included in Coldfront’s Top 40

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 Many Worlds

Interview by John Deming

I interviewed Paul Muldoon at The Wheeltapper Pub in midtown Manhattan in January, 2013. We discussed his new book, The Word on the Street: Rock Lyrics, out today from Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Paul’s book is a book of song lyrics that were written, for the most part, before they had music to accompany them. Many of them are performed by …