Sleeping with John Updike

"On the first anniversary of the American novelist's death, a new short story by Julian Barnes"

Sloe wine

When I was a child I had not time for filling forms or folding clothes. No minute could be spared from catching bees and huling hoops. I raced like upland rills and brooks that bubble and chase their own reflections. But now I have nothing but time, time to fill forms and stare at the box. Time to fold clothes and make arrangements. What time is it now Mr Wolf? I must have known that childhood was ending - that's why I raced everywhere, that's why I ran and ran and ran.

Poodles

A new poem by Simon Armitage for Tony Blair

"They all looked daft but the horse-dog
looked daftest of all. The cute red bridle and swishing tail,
the saddle and stirrups, the groomed mane.
The hair round its feet had been shaved and fluffed into hooves [...]"

ROCKPILE performs at Busboys & Poets

ROCKPILE performs at Busboys & Poets, Washington DC from ROCKPILE on Vimeo.

Raw footage of the ROCKPILE performance, comprised of poets David Meltzer and Michael Rothenberg in Washington, DC with the New Columbia Orchestra Quintet. The Quintet includes vocalist Nicki Gonzalez, flautist Joseph Cunliffe, guitarist Richard Miller, bassist Don West, and Burnett Thompson at the piano.

The rolling Rockpile poetry and music tour puts on a great show in Washington DC.

Bolero

David Meltzer / Ravel - on the rolling Rockpile tour

David Meltzer reads his poem "Brother "

At The Aqus Cafe for The Petaluma Poetry Walk on Sept. 20th, 2009

Very interesting re Ted Hughes poetry

Wild swim: Lumb Falls | Travel | guardian.co.uk: "Wild swim: Ted Hughes countryIn the third of a five-part series, Kate Rew swims West Yorkshire's sparkling Lumb Falls at the heart of poet Ted Hughes' childhood landscape."

I think anyone interested in Ted Hughes's poetry will find this short film a marvellous gem or rather a treasure of great interest and value.

Rockpile with The Rabbles

David Meltzer reads at Shelldance Orchid Nursery, 8-29-09 from ROCKPILE on Vimeo.

David Meltzer reads at the Shelldance Orchid Nursery First Annual Poetry, Music, and Art Festival in Pacifica on Saturday, August 29, 2009. Music by the Rabbles. Video by mxxx palmer

Aleksandar Hemon reads Stairway to Heaven

Books | guardian.co.uk

"Aleksandar Hemon reads Stairway to Heaven, the first story in his new collection, Love and Obstacles. A bookish Sarajevan sixteen-year-old is transplanted into the rich heat of Kinshasa, and begins an exhilarating friendship with a glamorous American"

"Recorded specially for the Guardian in the US, listen out for another story next week."

Guardian summer short fiction special

"Summer is here, so soak up stories from our favourite authors - and tell us who you'd like to see here next year"

New short stories by Dave Eggers, A. M. Holmes, David Mitchell, William Boyd and Julie Myerson. Also read the winner and runners up in the Guardian summer fiction short story competition.

Moloch - Summer '09

"It is in times like these that language becomes at once threatened and vital. And so we continue to read, talk and write."

Press F11 and keep pressing Next - you'll see a beautiful magazine with some good reading. However, I wonder if "The Last of the Nazis has Died" couldn't be improved by changing the entire text of the poem to something like "Good."

Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes, Dies

...by all accounts McCourt himself was in no way transformed by his success. Though that doesn't mean he didn't enjoy it immensely. "I wrote a book about growing up miserable, and the next thing I know I'm here," he said. "It's absurd, isn't it? It's extraordinary." (Time Magazine)

I think Angela's Ashes is a marvellous book, good enough to stand on the same shelf as Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee. (Debateable?)

Feeding baby poems

"In the tradition of mother-writers making poems about baby feeding - writers like Eavan Boland and Sylvia Plath - I've written a poem about feeding my new baby." (Women Rule Writer)

The New Yorker online

Fiction

Lorrie Moore: “Childcare.”

Stephen O’Connor: “Ziggurat.”

Tim Gautreaux: “Idols.”

Jonathan Franzen: “Good Neighbors.”

Poetry

Jorge Luis Borges: “A Dream.”

Carol Muske-Dukes: “Twin Cities.”

Christian Wiman: “Five Houses Down.”

Julie Bruck: “The “World-Famous” Lipizzaners.”

The New Yorker continues to be a treasure trove for fiction and poetry. The above are online at the time of posting.

Nadine Gordimer reads a short story

Media Player at Nobelprize.org

"The 1991 Nobel Laureate in Literature Nadine Gordimer reads her short story 'Loot' from 'Loot and Other Stories'. The video was recorded at Harvard University in April, 2005."