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| In Praise of Poetry |
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April 25, 2008 April showers may bring May flowers...but it also brings National Poetry Month. According to the founding body, the Academy of American Poets, National Poetry Month was established in 1996 to: Increase the attention paid — by individuals and the media — to the art of poetry, to living poets, to our poetic heritage, and to poetry books and magazines. In the end, we hoped to achieve an increase in the visibility, presence, and accessibility of poetry in our culture.
Indeed, for a while poetry might have seemed out of favor in some circles — no longer were poets national celebrities able to garner national theater or radio audiences as Edna St. Vincent Millay did in the 1930s and 1940s. But National Poetry Month has been a smashing success. According to the Academy it is now the largest literary celebration in the world.
Bill Moyers has long been a champion of poetry — bringing poets and their work to television in several poetry series and as guests on THE JOURNAL and NOW WITH BILL MOYERS. Enjoy poetry from our archives, some never before seen online and we'll keep adding throughout the month.
For the first time on the Web — watch an excerpt from BILL MOYERS FOOLING WITH WORDS!
Then post your own verse on The Blog. And remember what T.S. Eliot always said: "April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of dead soil."
Published on April 18, 2008.
Photo: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-77082
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 Naomi Shihab Nye In honor of National Poetry Month, we revist the Bill Moyers interview with Naomi Shihab Nye on the October 11, 2002 episode of NOW.
 Reading Rumi Poet Coleman Barks is also known for his translations of the great 13th century Islamic poet and teacher, Jalaladdin Rumi. In 2003, Barks appeared on NOW WITH BILL MOYERS, reading three of Rumi's poems. Not only is Rumi's work heard on radio throughout the Arab world, he is a best-selling poet in America.
 Robert Bly Bill Moyers talks with poet Robert Bly about greed in America, divinity and happiness.
 Martín Espada
Bill Moyers talks with poet Martin Espada about the power of words to effect social change.
 Poems: Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace
Read excerpts of writings collected from Maxine Hong Kingston's workshops with veterans and their families.
 Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood is one of Canada's most successful and prolific contemporary writers. Noted for her stylistic precision, caustic humor, and feminist concerns, Atwood has published more than 40 books of fiction, nonfiction, criticism, and poetry over the past four decades. She talks with Bill Moyers in the series BILL MOYERS ON FAITH & REASON.
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National Academy of Poetry The Academy's site is chock full of all things poetic, audio and video, writing tips, a calendar of poetry events throughout the year and material for teachers. Plus, there's 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month: Number 10: Google a poem. Many people carry single lines of verse with them, sometimes for years, and are eager to remember the rest of that particular poem.
NEWSHOUR Poetry Series
THE NEWSHOUR has been collaborating with the National Poetry Foundation on an on-air and online series. The Web site includes short-form profiles on living American poets and long-form segments on current debates in poetry and a wealth of resources for educators and the curious.
PBS Media Infusion: Taking the Pain Out of Poetry
PBS's Teachers offers advice on using multimedia resources in the classroom. April's expert Ian Ruderman contends: "Teaching poetry is one of the best things about being an English teacher." The site offers a wealth of resources for students of all ages.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Walt Whitman
PBS's AMERICAN EXPERIENCE premiered a biography of Walt Whitman during 2008's National Poetry Month. Watch the whole show online and explore Whitman's New York, a timeline and weigh in on whether Whitman is really our national poet. FOOLING WITH WORDS
Visit the Web site for Bill Moyers 1999 series, FOOLING WITH WORDS.
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