Jim Benz
Jim Benz has been writing poetry for more than thirty years - with a big gap in between. His work can be found in a variety of print and online journals, including (most recently) Diagram, Caper Literary Journal, Blackbox Manifold, and Gutter Eloquence. Additional poems are forthcoming at Revisitations, DailyHaiku, Cricket Online Review, and a new print magazine from the publishers of COR, The Robot's Red Balloon.
His primary interests concern post-structural approaches to the written word, focusing on experimental applications of tone, syntax, and metonymic reference as contextual explorations into unconscious, non-rational aspects of human social and literary experience.
An associate editor of Shakespeare's Monkey Revue, he recently earned a B.A. from the University of Minnesota in the field of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature. He lives in Minneapolis MN with his wife, two cats, and a dog.
Latest Articles
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Variations on a Pen(n): Denise Duhamel's "Delta Flight 659"
Writing a "mock sestina," Duhamel deviates from the norm while musing on poetry, war, celebrity, and perceptions of public persona.
Apr 16, 2010
- Jim Benz
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Addressing a Rumor: Donald Hall's "Death to the Death of Poetry"
Poetry just isn't what it used to be. But then again, as a living practice of art and literature, should it be?
Apr 11, 2010
- Jim Benz
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At the Heart of Contemporary Poetics, Jacket Magazine
With the advent of Internet publication, innovative poetics have entered a new age of wide distribution at low cost. Jacket Magazine is at its forefront
Apr 8, 2010
- Jim Benz
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Kim Addonizio's "What Do Women Want?"
Kim Addonizio presents a vivid portrayal of "everywoman" in a brilliantly sketched urban setting. But a question remains: who is the speaker addressing?
Apr 1, 2010
- Jim Benz
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Haiku and its Popular Conception
Too often haiku is mischaracterized as a poetry form whose rules consist only of three lines written in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern. The reality is more complex.
Mar 29, 2010
- Jim Benz
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"Backdrop addresses cowboy" by Margaret Atwood
Creating a masterful poetic movement through the American mythos, Atwood skewers "manifest destiny" by embodying the voice of the Other, the discarded "I am."
Mar 25, 2010
- Jim Benz
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Kenneth Koch's "Permanently"
Using grammatical metaphors to playfully bounce a poem's content off the structure of its language, Kenneth Koch works silliness against simplicity for poetic effect.
Mar 19, 2010
- Jim Benz
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Charles Olson's Essay on Projective Verse
First published in 1950, this seminal essay is a must-read for contemporary poets who seek effective ways to create dynamic, free verse poetry.
Feb 5, 2010
- Jim Benz
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Louis Zukofsky's "A"-9, Strophe 9
By rendering the specific meanings of "A"-9 ambiguous, Zukofsky uses verbal dichotomies to instigate sincere perception on the part of his readers.
Jan 21, 2010
- Jim Benz
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Milan Richter's "Never at the Horse at Two"
In "Never at the Horse at Two," Milan Richter addresses contemporary events by crafting a love poem in the context of a politically charged era and locale.
Jan 8, 2010
- Jim Benz
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