More galleys coming in today (am always surprised to have written something--somehow it feels I never am, and then proofs come in?), plus work on article, translation. Coffee!

From poet Jane Clark Scharl: www.plough.com/en/topics/li...

Καλό Μήνα!

"I require a tug"

Sad news today. XJ "Joe" Kennedy—a giant of poetry and great friend to Light—has died at 96. We’ll share more about him and his work soon. For now, here’s one of our favorites of his: #XJKennedy @aestallings.bsky.social @colemanglenn.bsky.social @juliekanepoet.bsky.social @allisonpoet.bsky.social

X.J. Kennedy, RIP

The wonderful poet X.J. Kennedy has died. Here is his perfect "Little Elegy": www.poemtree.com/poems/Little...

Good morning, flocks of snowdrops, plashy-footed moorhens, Mr and Mrs Mallard. Good morning Kingfisher, your Azure Highness.

OK, off for short walk by canal, then timing the lecture (and making appropriate cuts). Coffee!

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

New pome: www.the-tls.com/literature/o...

It's that time!: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44470/...

Join us for A.E. Stallings' next Professor of #Poetry lecture on 29 January at 5.30pm at the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities. 'People Poems: Portraits in Verse' All welcome! Tickets are free, but booking is required via Eventbrite. @aestallings.bsky.social

I had fun talking to the Lucretius seminar yesterday. Today, have a lunch meeting, and need to make tracks on lecture. Coffee!

Good morning, bashful snowdrops. Good morning, plashy-footed moor hen. Good morning, electric-blue kingfisher zipping along the river bank.

OK, today will make tracks on one of the commissioned poems, and on one of the talks, and on admin. Will not get tripped up by doom scrolls! Coffee.

"Catalectic" is too a word, #SpellingBee.

Sign for tonight's vigil:

Mary reads abed, Joseph minds the baby Jesus. (Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge)

Well, finally got up gumption and sent new poetry manuscript to editor. Fingers crossed!

If you are a U.S. citizen in Greece, or know any, please spread awareness of this silent vigil on Sunday evening. For those not in Athens, or if you want to take part virtually for any reason, light a candle in her memory and post a photo of it.

What little town by river or sea shore, Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel, Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?

First swim of 2026:

From our January 1st mountain walk:

This should not be shrugged aside. They have stopped with the fake 22 million illegal immigrants things and are flat out saying we want to deport 10's of millions of citizens and legal residents from "third world countries" Basically they are advocating removing 1/3 of the population on a gov site.

Good heavens:

Wishing you all a happy and blessed 2026!

This. Celebrate what you heard and liked…

Lots of New Year's Eve Kalenda (Carol) singers out and about this morning!

Venerable old #Tortoise!

A friend got me some fancy stitch-markers last year, and I am enjoying working on my blinged-out knitting project:

An Anthony Hecht poem, for #Childermas: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49087/...

I really enjoyed “Frieze Frame” by @aestallings.bsky.social. A multifaceted account of “the Marbles” of the Parthenon and other sites, told through short, lively chapters on different aspects of their history and nature.

"The Oxen," by Thomas Hardy: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53215/...

We actually got some Calenda singers this morning! (In Greece, on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, and Epiphany Eve, kids go around with triangles singing a special carol, and are given money. Seems like a positive sign, somehow!

2025 was a turning point when solar and wind power began to elbow fossil fuels out of the electricity market after 23 years of record growth, and electricity is fast elbowing fossil fuels out of transport, heating and cooling. open.substack.com/pub/johntpsa...

The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5

Elefsina Caryatid and I, for scale. (Her kidnapped sister is at the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge, little noticed.) Photo credit: John Psaropoulos

Doing this soon!:

This year is the 400th anniversary of the death of Sofonisba, but ‘it seems that not a single exhibition is being held to mark the occasion. So, if you want to see Sofonisba’s paintings, you will have to do a good deal of travelling and pick them off one by one.’ Nick Trend provides an itinerary

Lichens are some of the most amazing organisms on Earth: symbioses of fungi and algae. One provides structure, the other food via photosynthesis. They're also *incredibly* resilient, thriving in deserts, tundras, even space, withstanding intense cold, heat, drought, and radiation.

OK, today teaching at Melissa, meeting friend for lunch, holiday shopping. Minimal doom scrolling. Coffee!

I am terribly pleased to announce that my book of sonnets, Glosses and Ligatures, will be published by Sagging Meniscus Press in the autumn of 2027. @saggingmeniscus.bsky.social

This Edwin Morgan poem ("The Computer's First Christmas Card") is from 1968, but seems wittily to anticipate AI, and slop:https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/computers-first-christmas-card/

My third collection, Landscape with Question, will be published in June 2026 with @carcanet.bsky.social. It started out as a biography in verse of Nano Reid, then became something else entirely. 🌔🌊🏙️🌱 www.carcanet.co.uk/978180017561...

This man was shot twice during this incredible, selfless act of courage. We can stand up for each other. We can care for each other. We can be neighbors. www.news.com.au/national/nsw...

Alex Karp is a card-carrying fascist. Holy cow:

This is bonkers and disturbing: