Author Archives: nancohen

I hope that infected cat bite is clearing up okay, Randall.

Posted on January 17, 2017 by nancohen

And I’m glad the kitten is safe!  

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Poem for January: “Egg”

Posted on January 8, 2017 by nancohen

As I’ve mentioned, most of the poems in Unfinished City began as responses to the parashot, the weekly portions into which Jews divide the first five books of the Bible.  It’s easy to see where some of them came from—the … Continue reading →

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“Walt you contain enough, why don’t you let it out then?”

Posted on January 1, 2017 by nancohen

On the morning of New Year’s Day, I drove out to Newbury Park to pick up my daughter from a friend’s house.  (I passed the Newbury Park library branch, which was closed, of course, but noticed that it looks like a … Continue reading →

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While we’re waiting, a poem from Unfinished City

Posted on December 28, 2016 by nancohen

I will do a coordinated announcement about my new book in the near future with the editors of the press–with whom I’m so happy to be working!–but for now, I would like to share with you the title, Unfinished City, and the … Continue reading →

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Actual announcement (Napa faculty!)

Posted on December 27, 2016 by nancohen

The 37th Napa Valley Writers’ Conference (July 23-28, 2017) will feature the following workshop faculty: In poetry – Eavan Boland, Jane Hirshfield, Ada Limón, and Matthew Zapruder In fiction – Lan Samantha Chang, Peter Ho Davies, Daniel Orozco, and ZZ … Continue reading →

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Not-an-announcement announcement

Posted on December 18, 2016 by nancohen

Just putting this here for now: my second book of poems is going to come out in 2017.  Looking forward to making a real announcement soon.

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Sometimes you want to be able to find a Tweet…

Posted on October 4, 2016 by nancohen

…and maybe show it to your students to make them feel glad they are native speakers, or, if they’re non-native speakers, proud that they have mastered this ridiculously complex aspect of English:

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“Leave Elena Ferrante Alone”

Posted on October 3, 2016 by nancohen

David Ulin in Lithub: In part, I think, our fascination with the secret lives of writers has to do with the fact that we feel so close to them when we read. This is as it should be; reading and … Continue reading →

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It Just Came Up in Class, #2

Posted on October 2, 2016 by nancohen

A student observed that the speaker in James Wright’s poem “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota” is experiencing a human need for meaning (i.e., what does it mean to “waste” one’s life) that the … Continue reading →

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It Just Came Up in Class, #1

Posted on October 1, 2016 by nancohen

The room my C block class meets in has suddenly acquired a large faux-leather chair that made me think of Sesame Street’s Monsterpiece Theater, which made me think of this American Monster Classics classic:

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