Where do you get your inspiration?

Poet W.D. Snodgrass, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1960, tells us how he found the answer to that question, the whole question of what to write about.

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Elizabeth Alexander has been chosen Barack Obama’s inaugural poet. Her poems are relaxed, “lazy” she said once, relatively brief, big enough, though, to hold Nat Turner, Mick Jagger; strong with memory and strong with the now. Her poems are confessional at times, sometimes from dreams, a fresh look at the world, poems that are luminous, compact carriers of light. Born in New York in 1962, she grew up in Washington, D.C. Now she is a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard. She has a very impressive resume, including being a Pulitzer Prize finalist with her book “American Sublime” in 2005. Google her name. Visit her Web page.

Barrelhouse Bonni just sent some fantastic news: West Virginia’s first lady of soul — Lady D — won the Obama inaugural song contest with “Go Higher.”

To see the victory announcement and to hear the song, click here!

Lady D says:

Thanks to everyone who voted for my song, “Go Higher” for the Obama inaugural song. I just got the word and I’m so excited! I couldn’t have done it if you all hadn’t gotten behind this. Thanks again for your support and I’ll keep you updated on what’s happening. It’s not guaranteed at this point that I can actually perform at the inauguration itself but I’ve been told that I will be at one of the inaugural balls. I’m just happy for the opportunity. Thanks again to all of you! LOVE YA!Doris A. Fields
Lady D

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Rudy Panucci reminded me the last time I wrote about the contest that you can see Lady D performing “Go Higher” on Episode 37 of Radio Free Charleston. Click here for details.

Books — Photo by Vic Burkhammer

Many times books have a very low resale value, but poetry prices skyrocket sometimes without the poets knowing much about it.

For example, how about two books I happen to be familiar with? They were published years ago and are picking up value in the stacks available from miscellaneous booksellers.

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