Elizabeth Hazen Shares Her Tsundoku (Poetry books to Read)
In a new blog post, Elizabeth Hazen shares her tsundoku. Tsundoku is a Japanese word meaning "Acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one's home without reading them."
For Christmas, which seems like three lifetimes ago, my parents gave my husband a book of interesting words from around the world*. An engineer who has a soft spot for spoonerisms, puns, and wordplay in every form, he found instant delight in this book. Did you know that Germans have a word for the weight we gain from stress-eating? Kummerspeck. Or that the Scots have a word for that awkward pause when you’ve forgotten the name of the person you’re introducing? Tartle. Among my favorites are the whimsical Swedish smultronställe, a place of wild strawberries; the romantic Italian dormiveglia, the space between sleeping and waking; and the essential Japanese tsundoku, that pile of unread books on my bedside table that grows with each passing month.
Needless to say, I took that book of words from my husband, adding one more to my stack...
Featured Audio: “I’m in Love with the Morton Salt Girl,” a poem by Richard Peabody
Richard Peabody Reads “I’m in Love with the Morton Salt Girl” Peabody’s aesthetic is all-embracing – strands of punk, beat, experimental, feminist, and political protest literary influences blend with the […]
Rose Solari Reads “The Last Girl”
Featured Audio: “The Last Girl,” a poem by Rose Solari Rose’s voice is as much a part of the journey as the text. Her understanding of (and love for) the […]
[Richard Peabody] The People, an alternative indie-publishing canon
The People, an alternative indie-publishing canon, by Richard Peabody In March of 1980, Michael Martone did something extraordinary — inviting a motley crew of indie press folks up to Johns […]