Frank Hecker

This Sunday night’s poet is Tom Disch, also known as Thomas M. Disch in his separate incarnations as SF author (Camp Concentration, On Wings of Song), writer of horror stories and Gothic romances, author of children’s books (including The Brave Little Toaster), early pioneer of interactive fiction, opera and theater critic, and more. The very opposite of a confessional poet, his poems (and his writing in general) are marked by an urbane sophistication, an elegant dry wit, and a hint of menace behind both—in a way a literary version of John Malkovich, whom he somewhat resembled. Here’s one of my favorite examples, “How to Behave when Dead”: