David Woo

Lovely time in Minneapolis: statue of St. Francis, Donald Shepard (Como Park Conservatory); "Egret," Kitagami Seigyū (Minneapolis Institute of Art); Weisman Art Museum; Minnehaha Falls.

Scenes from La Jolla: hang gliding at sunset, the Louis Kahn-designed Salk Institute, matcha tiramisu at Ee Nami Tonkatsu Izakawa.

The June 26th National Book Critics Circle conversation on poetry criticism with Stephanie Burt, Anahid Nersessian, and David Orr is on video at this link http://bit.ly/40qVIXJ.

Video for our June 26th conversation on poetry criticism is available at this link: bit.ly/40qVIXJ

A Conversation on Poetry Criticism sponsored by the National Book Critics Circle. Three of the most accomplished poetry critics today (Stephanie Burt, Anahid Nersessian, David Orr) discuss being a poetry critic, the state of poetry criticism, and the pleasures and practicalities of becoming such a critic now. June 26, 6 pm ET on Zoom. Use QR code to register.

Join us today, June 26, 6 p.m. ET, for a National Book Critics Circle discussion about poetry criticism!

Join us Thurs., June 26, 2025, 6 p.m. ET, for Nat'l Book Critics Circle conversation with Anahid Nersessian, Stephanie Burt, & David Orr. Adam Dalva, Rebecca Morgan Frank, & I will introduce and ask questions. Link in linktree in my profile. (Quote: Keats’s Odes: A Lover’s Discourse, by Anahid.)

Today's Weekly Read is "Word" by David Woo from Issue 5! 🖋️ @davidwoo.bsky.social

Read the full poem: blreview.org/poetry/word/
#poetry

Yes, greatness narrowly defined to mean a particular windily dull type of writing is something we could all do without, and long may its advocates gag on their pipe smoke and languish in their tweeds. But the idea that poets should aspire to produce work “exquisite in its kind,” as Samuel Johnson once put it, is one of the art form’s most powerful legacies. When we lose sight of greatness, we cease being hard on ourselves and on each other; we begin to think of real criticism as being “mean,” rather than as evidence of poetry’s health; we stop assuming that poems should be interesting to other people and begin thinking of them as only being obligated, maybe, to sort of vaguely interest our friends—and, finally, not even that. Perhaps most disturbing, we stop making demands on the few artists capable of practice the art at its highest levels. —David Orr

Photo of David Orr by Julie Prisloe.

Three distinguished poetry critics, David Orr (photo: Julie Prisloe), Anahid Nersessian, & Stephanie Burt join Adam Dalva, Rebecca Morgan Frank, and me for an online conversation about poetry criticism on June 26, 6 pm ET. Register at link in linktree in my profile. @bookcritics.bsky.social

To read a poem is to imagine a life, whether or not it's a life that is or could be yours. Lives—especially lives that are, or have been, oppressed, or erased —deserve to be seen and heard. Poems, moreover, imagine lives by means of style; the poems most worth attention, more worth rereading, stand apart for how they sound. There is no responsible way to separate a poem from its style: what it does, not—or not just—what it says. —Stephanie Burt, "Super Gay Poems"

Photo of Stephanie Burt by Steph Kloss.

@bookcritics.bsky.social presents an all-star online conversation on poetry criticism with Stephanie Burt (photo: Steph Kloss), Anahid Nersessian, & David Orr on June 26, 6 pm ET. @adamdalva.bsky.social introduces, @poetmorgan.bsky.social and I moderate. Register at link in linktree in my profile.

Photo of David Woo before a view of Santorini, Greece.

Santorini, one of the loveliest places that I've seen, and we were lucky to visit before the summer crowds.

The winner of the NBCC Award for Poetry is “Wrong Norma” by Anne Carson! #NBCCAwards @ndbooks.bsky.social

Sandra Cisneros, Anne Carson and More Among Winners of 50th National Book Critics Circle Awards — See the Full List The National Book Critics Circle announced the winners of their prestigious literary award during their annual ceremony on March 20. Founded in 1974, the NBCC, made up of over 800 editors and critics ...

Delighted that People headlined our poetry winner Anne Carson (as well as Sandra Cisneros) in their article on our recent NBCC ceremony:

people.com/see-the-full...

Photos of the finalists for the National Book Critics Circle poetry award: Oliver Baez Bendorf, Anne Carson, Jennifer Chang, Dawn Lundy Martin, and Carl Phillips.

The brilliant finalists for the NBCC poetry award. Join me on Wednesday as I emcee our reading in NYC for finalists in all categories. The awards ceremony is on Thursday. Tickets and details in the linktree in my bio. Buy tickets soon!

NBCC’s Emerging Critics Fellowship is accepting applications for 2025-2026. Apply at nbcc.submittable.com. Deadline: Friday, May 9 at 11:59 PM Pacific.

A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker by New Yorker Magazine Inc: 9780593801932 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books Edited by the magazine’s poetry editor, Kevin Young, a celebratory selection from one hundred years of influential, entertaining, and taste-making verse in The New Yorker Seamus Heaney, Dorothy...

A poem by NBCC board member and poetry chair @davidwoo.bsky.social appears in the anthology "A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker: 1925-2025":

View of the anthology A Century of Poetry at The New Yorker, 1925-2025, edited by Kevin Young.

Delighted to appear in this majestic anthology edited by Kevin Young for @newyorker.com. This morning I encountered this copy in pride of place at the front of my favorite local (Phoenix) bookstore, Changing Hands.

Grateful to be part of the unanimous vote of the board @bookcritics.bsky.social to sign this important statement:

Want to help fire victims? The best way to support Los Angeles in the short and long term. Here’s how to decide where to donate your money, time, and stuff. From Altadena Girls to Pasadena Humane, there are organizations that could use cash donations.

and as I said in the reading, “The green hills put me in mind of the apocalypse." In our late-capitalist media culture, a catastrophe like the L.A. wildfires will soon be supplanted by something “fresher." Here are ways you can still help: www.vox.com/climate/3952...

Photo of David and his partner at Beyond Baroque in Los Angeles.

Two years ago my partner and I drove from Phoenix to L.A. for a reading at this beautiful venue. In many decades of passing through the area, I had never seen the hills there look more lush and verdant. The atmospheric rivers that had deposited torrential rains were clearly unusual, and (1/2)

Many birthdays ago, that is, on this day sometime in the last century, I was a teacher in Beijing, passing the time with Wittgenstein, who wrote, "A poet has constantly to ask himself, 'But is what I am writing really true?' and this does not necessarily mean, 'Is this how it happens in reality?'"

Photo of Lauren Michele Jackson, winner of the Balakian citation for reviewing excellence.

Book covers of five biographies by Cynthia Carr, Jean Strouse, Tiya Miles, Jane Jamensky, and Amy Reading.

In addition to chairing poetry, I was honored to serve on the two committees that selected the superb work by Lauren Michele Jackson and the five extraordinary biographies by Cynthia Carr, Jane Kamensky, Tiya Miles, Amy Reading, and Jean Strouse.

Covers of the nominated books: An Authentic Life; Consider the Rooster; Scattered Snows, to the North; Instructions for the Lovers; and Wrong Norma.

Congratulations to the poetry finalists: Oliver Baez Bendorf, Anne Carson, Jennifer Chang, Dawn Lundy Martin, & Carl Phillips; & our poetry nominee for the Leonard first book award, Cindy Juyoung Ok. I'm honored to emcee the finalists reading March 19; our ceremony is 3/20. @bookcritics.bsky.social

Reminder about the finalist announcement on January 23 for the National Book Critics Circle,

I can't wait to tell you what we on the NBCC poetry committee decided for our top five and as our poetry nominee for the Leonard award for best debut. An extraordinary shortlist from an already amazing longlist. Look for our announcement on Thursday!

The early works of Langston Hughes arm us with wisdom, hope, and power to fight for a liberation yet to arrive “Hughes’ vision of race, country, and community is not one without despair, but despair never swallows what is joyful and possible.”

For @theemancipator.org, NBCC board member @davidwoo.bsky.social interviewed poet Danez Smith about their curation of the anthology "Blues in Stereo: The Early Works of Langston Hughes":

Delighted to speak with Danez Smith about Langston Hughes for @theemancipator.org

Poem of the Day, from the books longlisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry: “Wind Shear” from Yard Show by Janice N. Harrington (BOA Editions). Look for our finalist announcement on January 23rd #poetry (10/10)

Poem of the Day, from the books longlisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry: “What to Say of the Entirety” from Wrong Norma by Anne Carson @ndbooks.bsky.social Look for our finalist announcement on January 23rd #poetry (9/10)

Poem of the Day, from the books longlisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry: “Eshu or Ambition” from Sturge Town by Kwame Dawes (W. W. Norton) Look for our finalist announcement on January 23rd (8/10)

Poem of the Day, from the books longlisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry: “Refrain” from Scattered Snows, to the North by Carl Phillips @fsgbooks.bsky.social @cphillipspoet.bsky.social Look for our finalist announcement on January 23rd (7/10)

Poem of the Day, from the books longlisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry: “Coming Out of the Shower,” from The Palace of Forty Pillars by Armen Davoudian @tinhouse.bsky.social Look for our finalist announcement on January 23rd (6/10)

Poem of the Day, from the books longlisted for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry: “Then Death Came Like a Hammer Not a Metaphor,” from Instructions for the Lovers by Dawn Lundy Martin (Nightboat Books) Look for our finalist announcement on January 23rd (5/10)