Simply the Best

It's time for sexy lit crit, darlings!

As always, buy from indies! We recommend Loyalty Bookstores, a Black-owned DC bookstore. Shop here!

Tina Turner (born Nov. 26, 1939—Sagittarius) has sold over 100 MM records, received 12 Grammys, and been inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame twice. She is the 1st Black artist and 1st woman to grace Rolling Stone's cover. Watch her 2005 Kennedy Center Honors (with Oprah, Queen Latifah, Melissa Etheridge, and Beyonce) here. (~20 min)

Ann Peebles wrote and sang the original version of "I Can't Stand the Rain." Listen here.

Watch Camille Rankine read Shepherd's poem "Paradise" here. (-3 min)

Rae Armantrout is an Aries (April 13). Read 11 of her poems here on Granta.

 Read Dorianne Laux's "Fast Gas" here. 

Watch Eula Biss read from and discuss No Man's Land here (~60 min).

James L. White (b. March 26--Aries) wroteThe Salt Ecstasies (Graywolf, 1982). Read four of White's poems (including "Making Love to Myself," which we reference) here.

Watch Tim Dlugos read his heartwrenching poem, "G-9" (~15 min) about the AIDS ward at Roosevelt Hospital. You can also read the poem here. 

If you haven't read TERFy Adrienne Rich's essay on Dickinson, "Vesuvius at Home," it's  here. 

The Williams we quote is from "Asphodel, That Greeny Flower"; an excerpt is  here. 

You can hear Robert Frost read "The Road Not Taken" here (with music by Chris Coleman, ~ 2 min.)

Listen to Marianne Moore read her poem "Bird-Witted" here. (~2 min.)

Percy Bysse Shelley (b. Aug 4—Leo) was married to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. He wrote things too, including "Adonais," which you can watch Mick Jagger read  here.  

You can listen to Plath (Scorpio) read her poems here (about an hour).

William Wordsworth (b. April 17, 1770—Aries)  wrote that "Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings…." You can watch J'Kobe Wallace, 2015 North Dakota State Poetry Out Loud champ, recite "Daffodils" here. 

Watch Allen Ginsberg interviewed on Letterman here (~11 min).

Horace (b. December 8, 65 BCE—Sagittarius) coined the term "carpe diem." Watch a really hot guy recite that ode in Latin here (with Spanish subtitles, ~1 min).

Watch this iconic performance of Auden's poem "Funeral Blues" in Four Weddings and a Funeral (~2 min).

Brenda Hillman, "Male Nipples" here

Ducking