After the construction of Perry World House we were able to build a new fence and then—just recently—enjoyed the planting of new flowers, bushes and trees for our Class of 1942 Garden. Today was a gorgeous Philly spring day so I took a few photos of the garden nearly in...
It’s been a few days since I walked from home to campus. Today I took my camera and enjoyed West Philly’s early spring colors—built and natural. Click on an image for a larger view.
I went for two runs today around lower Manhattan variously. One jog was along the lordly Hudson. The other had me wandering and zigzagging through the Village. Here are four photos. Click on any image for a larger view.
Today was my first day back in the garden since last fall. We have a tiny space in the back of our West Philly home, along the alley back there. Planted greens (pak choy, spring mix, arugula) and tended the chard (coming up from last year) and chives. Click on...
A late-afternoon walk around Lake Worth, Florida. Click on any image for a larger view.
While in southern Florida the past few days I’ve been running early mornings and couldn’t resist a few shots that I posted to Instagram (@afilreis). I found people using the hashtag #floridaliving so I added the scenes I reckoned that that gathering.
61. Today. Best plan: bring the whole family to southern Florida to be with mom, soak in the sun, feel sand between the toes. Here are some photos — click on any photo for a larger view.
The great poet Joanne Kyger passed yesterday. I had the honor of hosting an on-location episode of PoemTalk a few months ago not far from her home in Bolinas, California. You can hear that conversation here. That afternoon was brilliant: a late summer day, clear skies, the mesa field behind...
Al Filreis is Kelly Professor, Faculty Director of the Kelly Writers House, Director of the Center
for Programs in Contemporary Writing, Co-Director of PennSound, and Publisher of Jacket2—all at the University of Pennsylvania. Among his books are Secretaries of the Moon,
Wallace Stevens & the Actual World, Modernism from Left to Right, and Counter-Revolution of the Word: The Conservative Attack on Modern Poetry, 1945-60. His new book is 1960: When Art & Literature Confronted the Memory of World War II & Remade the Modern (Columbia University Press, 2021). He is currently writing a book about online pedagogy. He has taught a massive open online course, "ModPo," to 265,000 participants in 192 countries since 2012.
Founder/Faculty Director, Kelly Writers House—intro video ][ events calendar
Convener/teacher, “ModPo.” an open online course on modern & contemporary U.S. poetry—overview of the course ][ intro video
Publisher of Jacket2 magazine—my Jacket2 commentary series ][ "First Readings"
Producer/host, PoemTalk podcast series—co-sponsored by Kelly Writers House & the Poetry Foundation
Director of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing—Creative Writing ][ RealArts internships ]
Co-founder & co-director of PennSound—50,000 files ][ 15 million downloads annually
Teacher & host, "Kelly Writers House Fellows"—since 1999 ][ Susan Sontag, John Ashbery, Jamaica Kincaid, Laurie Anderson, Adrienne Rich, Joan Didion, John Edgar Wideman & more
Teacher, "Representations of the Holocaust"—a course on survivor testimony ][ my holocaust site
Click on the image for information about the book.
