Reviews & Interviews
Interviews
Written Interviews
Tricycle contributing editor Andrew Cooper chats with Zen teacher and poet Norman Fischer.
An in-depth interview about Norman's writing practice, poetry, and Zen.
An interview conducted in the Green Gulch Farm library on January 3, 1996.
“One afternoon in late August 1990, we met for lunch at Green Gulch and
began discussing the relationships among L=A=N=G=U= A=G=E poetics,
critical theory, and Buddhist thought and practice; at the poet's home the
following morning we expanded upon that conversation.”
Audio Interviews
Host Daniel Aitken speaks with Norman Fischer about Norman’s own spiritual journey — from aspiring young poet to meditation teacher and celebrated author., Norman also discusses the topic of doubt and what it means to be a teacher of the Dharma.
A conversation with KQED San Francisco radio host Michael Krasny, on his show Forum, about Norman's book Sailing Home.
Norman talks with Charles Bernstein for Close Listening, a program of readings and conversations with poets.
Reviews
“I don’t know who’s right, Gary Snyder or Norman Fischer. Norman says that poetry has nothing to do with self-expression, while Gary says poetry is rooted in self-expression.”
“Fischer’s newest collection of poems, Questions / Places / Voices / Seasons (in a beautiful large format), is built, as the title suggests, on multiple styles, approaches, voices, and locations.”
“A fluid series of poems based in the area where Norman lives, these poems move in and out of statements with grace and beauty, placing us within a world of perpetual movement, impermanence, and wonder.”
“The poems have the quality of already having been slowed down. They then impart that quality – the listener is slowed down. That should be one of the qualities of all poetry I think – but it often isn’t. Here it is.”
“Norman Fischer has written a marvelous book of poems about the experience of thinking the unthinkable.”
“To all serious seekers, whether Jewish, Christian or Buddhist, I recommend the use of this book in their personal practice.”
“… In Jerusalem Moonlight Judaism and Buddhism do not easily commingle, but the tension between them sparkles with buoyancy, celebrating this modern, mysterious intersection of two ancient traditions.”