Gary Snyder, sublime and seminal poet of ecological awareness and activism [YouTube link], Zen appreciation of "ordinary mind" and American speech, shamanistic intimacy with the natural world, and surviving member of the Beat Generation (West Coast posse) at age 78, has won the $100,000 Ruth Lilly poetry prize. "Gary Snyder is in essence a contemporary devotional poet, though he is not devoted to any one god or way of being so much as to Being itself," said Poetry magazine editor Christian Wiman. "His poetry is a testament to the sacredness of the natural world and our relation to it, and a prophecy of what we stand to lose if we forget that relation.” Previous recipients of the Lilly prize include Adrienne Rich, John Ashbery, and W.S. Merwin. [Previously mentioned here.]
posted by digaman on May 7, 2008 - 43 comments

Tom Snyder, host of the Tomorrow Show and the Late Late Show, is dead at 71.
posted by doctor_negative on Jul 30, 2007 - 63 comments

The Armless Maiden and the Hero's Journey. An exploration of heroic narratives. Author's bio page.
posted by Burhanistan on Apr 11, 2007 - 9 comments