“Plugging Up the Holes” by Nomi Stone
Nomi Stone’s second collection of poems, Kill Class is forthcoming from Tupelo Press in 2019. Winner of a 2018 Pushcart Prize, Stone’s poems appear recently or will soon in POETRY, American Poetry… Read More
Top Five Times Trump was Concerned with Pee and Bathrooms
The "Pee Tape.” We’ve all heard about it. Is it real? I’m not going to touch that question with a ten foot pole. But here are the top five other times that… Read More
“Memorial Days” by Ernest Hilbert
My poems “Memorial Days” and “Alpine” appear in the issue Issue 10:2 of Literary Matters, along with new writing “ranging from former U.S. Poets Laureate to a current High School Senior,” including… Read More
Episode Two of Works Cited: Kevin and the Lukes Talk About “My Story in a Late Style of Fire” by Larry Levis
“My Story in a Late Style of Fire” by Larry Levis Whenever I listen to Billie Holiday, I am reminded That I, too, was once banished from New York City. Not because… Read More
“Station” by Ishion Hutchinson
Ishion Hutchinson is a current Guggenheim Fellow in poetry. He is the author of two poetry collections, House of Lords and Commons and Far District. Born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, he moved… Read More
Christopher LaRosa’s setting of Ernest Hilbert’s poem “Nights of 1998” Headed for Mexico City
Composer Christopher LaRosa recently set to music my poem “Nights of 1998,” from my book All of You on the Good Earth, for a baritone accompanied by sinfonietta. The piece premiered on Thursday,… Read More
Top Five People who Died By Falling Down
OK, this top five is going to be a downer. An elderly but healthy and strong family friend recently stumbled and fell while walking down the street. He died of his injuries.… Read More
Works Cited: A New Poetry Podcast
It's a gritty, downright underground project right now, and I hope it catches on. I'm told they have the entire first season recorded, so we have much more to look forward to.… Read More
Top Five Things in the Musical Grease that are Really Bad Now but Were just Good Fun back Then
Grease: Great musical film, or greatest musical? OK, maybe there are better ones, but there was nothing better for a 1970s tween. And it’s still just as fun to watch today. But… Read More
Ernest Hilbert’s Poem “Haunts” on NPR’s Morning Edition
A recording of my poem “Haunts” aired on WHYY FM, Philadelphia’s NPR Station, 90.9 MHz, as part of a National Poetry Month feature on Morning Edition, hosted by Jennifer Lynn. It's a… Read More
Ernest Hilbert Writes about Books in the Wall Street Journal
I had a chance to review three new books about books for the Spring books insert at the Wall Street Journal. Check it out.… Read More
Top Five Horror Franchises that Went to Space
When Star Trek’s visionary creator Gene Roddenberry gave us the immortal phrase “Space . . . the final frontier,” he was probably hoping to encapsulate the hopes and dreams of mankind in… Read More
Ernest Hilbert Reviews Daniel Kalder’s The Infernal Library for the Washington Post
Of all the genres one might imagine, dictator literature, books written by or on behalf of despots, must be among the most curious and troubling. I review Daniel Kalder's book The Infernal Library:… Read More
Hear and Watch Ernest Hilbert’s “Nights of 1998” Set to Music by Christopher LaRosa
You can now hear and watch "Nights of 1998" on a live stream here by clicking on "New Music Ensemble, David Dzubay director."… Read More
B-List Trump Facts from Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury
A few months ago, the book Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff, an expose of the Trump White House behind the scenes, got a lot of publicity. A few key dishy points… Read More
Top Five Creepy Things Noticed While Rewatching Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors
Watching old Woody Allen movies can sometimes be a treasure trove of unpleasant observations about the way Woody Allen thinks, particularly given what we’ve subsequently learned about his private life in the… Read More
Ernest Hilbert Reviews John Y. Cole’s New History of the Library of Congress in the Washington Post
My review of a new history of the Library of Congress appears in today's Sunday Washington Post. Check it out. I notice they altered my bio slightly to make me a "dealer… Read More
The Top Five Times Disney Tripped Balls
In the Golden Age of Disney films, the style veered towards relatively realistic and extremely wholesome—no sex, drugs, or wild music. But every once in awhile, It would get trippy like the… Read More
Monday Poets at the Free Library Featuring Catherine Staples and Ernest Hilbert
Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103… Read More
“Capgras” by David Yezzi
David Yezzi is the author of The Hidden Model (TriQuarterly, 2003); Azores (Swallow, 2008), a Slate magazine book of the year; and Birds of the Air (2013) , a Publishers Weekly pick.… Read More
Ernest Hilbert on Illustrated Dust Jackets in the Washington Post
We are cautioned to avoid judging a book by its cover, yet that is precisely what publishers hope we will do. Dust jacket illustration, which came into its own in the 1920s,… Read More
Books Read or Reread by Ernest Hilbert in 2017
I don't get to nearly as many books as I used to, but I still manage to sneak a few in. Here are the ones I got to in 2017. I'd love… Read More
Luke’s Favorite Music of 2017
Associate Poetry Editor Luke Stromberg brings you his favorite music of 2017. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, we have also included a Spotify playlist of his favorite… Read More
“To Eros” by Alfonsina Storni translated from the Spanish by Nicholas Friedman
Alfonsina Storni (1892-1938) is an important Argentine and Latin-American modernist poet. Nicholas Friedman is the author of Petty Theft, which won the 2018 New Criterion Poetry Prize and will be published by… Read More
Hear Afaa M. Weaver Interviewed by Ernest Hilbert Live at Fergie’s Pub
Ernest Hilbert interviewed poet, translator, and professor Afaa M. Weaver before a live audience at Fergie's Pub in Philadelphia on the afternoon of Sunday, November 19th, 2017. … Read More
What Lurks Down There? Ernest Hilbert’s Dark Web Magazine, Cocytus
What’s lurking out there on the infamous Dark Web? A lot of unsavory activity and characters, to be sure. But poets? It’s already got a reputation for hiding the worst human activity,… Read More
“Mars Ultor” by Ernest Hilbert
"Just as the work of the modernists showed that the best free verse usually has something masterfully formal about it, Hilbert’s fine collection might serve to remind us that the best formal… Read More
“An American Bookman in England”
Pulitzer-prize winning book critic and collector Michael Dirda recently visited England to deliver the Richard Lancelyn Green lecture to the Sherlock Holmes Society of London (his talk was titled "The Rivals of… Read More
Top Five Kevin Spacey Movies That Seem Creepy in Retrospect
From CNN: Kevin Spacey made the set of Netflix's "House of Cards" into a "toxic" work environment through a pattern of sexual harassment, eight people who currently work on the show or… Read More
Ernest Hilbert Reviews Paperbacks from Hell for the Washington Post
Just in time for Halloween! My review of Grady Hendrix’s wildly amusing book Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction (Quirk Books) appears in the Sunday, October… Read More