The Library of Congress announced the appointment of Kay Ryan as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for 2008-09. The native Californian and author of six books of poetry writes poems regarded for their wit and unusual perspectives and wisdom.
For more than 30 years, poet and professor Richard Shelton has traveled to a high security prison in Arizona to run a program that encourages prisoners to write and read poetry. Shelton writes of his experiences in his memoir, "Crossing the Yard."
"The Warrior" by Frances Richey is composed of 28 poems written by the poet to her son, Ben, a Green Beret who has served two tours of duty in Iraq. Jeffrey Brown speaks with Richey and her son about the collection and their unique perspectives on the war.
"Time and Materials" by Robert Hass won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, becoming the first book of poetry since 1983 to win both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award. Hass talks about the collection.
Terrance Hayes is the author of three books of poetry and is a professor of Creative Writing at Carnegie Mellon University. He discusses life as a poet in Pittsburgh, "where no one is a stranger," and shares some of his work.
Mary Jo Bang is professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program at Washington University. Her fifth book, "Elegy," which won of the National Book Critics Circle Award, examines the pain and grief following the death of her son.
Li-Young Lee was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Chinese parents who had been exiled from China. After fleeing the regime of Indonesian President Sukarno in 1959 through Hong Kong, Macau and Japan, his family settled in the United States in 1964.
The Library of America is publishing the collected works and letters of celebrated poet Elizabeth Bishop -- marking the first time it has done so for a woman poet. Two of Bishop's friends discuss and read her work.
The winner of nearly every major American award for poetry, John Ashbery's substantial body of work has led many to consider him one of the nation's most important writers of the last half century. His most recent book, "A Worldly Country," was published this year.
At the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Professor Elizabeth Samet's upper level poetry seminar unearths the creative side of soldiers-in-training. Jeffrey Brown looks at Samet's use of poetry and her new book, "Soldier's Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point."
Karen Zaborowski Duffy is a lifelong Philadelphia Phillies fan. Although her beloved team was not in this year's World Series, she shares a poem about being at the event with her daughter.
It's no surprise there's not a lot of money to be made in poetry. So how in a commercial culture like ours does so much of it get published? One answer can be found a few hours outside Seattle, where Copper Canyon has been putting out books for 35 years.
Charles Simic was named Poet Laureate last month by the Library of Congress. Born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, he has authored 18 books of poetry and won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer. Simic reflects on his craft.
Joy Harjo is an internationally known poet, writer and musician. Born into the Muskogee Creek Nation in Oklahoma, Harjo's poetry, song and saxophone music honor the Native American spirit.
The Library of Congress appointed Charles Simic, whose work is known for its surrealism, dark humor and irony, as its 15th poet laureate. The author of 18 books of poetry, Simic takes over the position from Donald Hall, who has served since 2006.
Paul Hunter, a poet, musician, instrument-maker, teacher, and editor and publisher, has produced letterpress books and broadsides under the imprint of Wood Works Press in Seattle. He talks about his works.
Gregory Djanikian, director of the creative writing program at the University of Pennsylvania, reads a poem about how immigrants "might contribute to the great melting pot of the English language."
Jack Prelutsky, named the first children's poet laureate by the Poetry Foundation, which also helps fund the NewsHour's poetry coverage, talks about his young readers and shares some of his works from "Good Sports."
Natasha Trethewey, who spoke to the NewsHour last year, has won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her book, "Native Guard." She catches up with Jeffrey Brown about her book, winning the Pulitzer and her hometown of Gulfport, Miss., which was crippled by Hurricane Katrina.
Nikki Giovanni is a professor of English at Virginia Tech, where she has taught since 1987, and is the author of 15 books of poetry. She gave the closing remarks at the Virginia Tech Convocation following the campus shootings. "We are Virginia Tech," Giovanni said. "We are brave enough to bend to cry and sad enough to know we must laugh again."
Poets in Middle Eastern societies are often held in high regard, and many achieve a level of celebrity and authority not common in the West. Senior correspondent Jeffrey Brown travels to Israel and the occupied territories to provide insight into the lives of Israeli and Palestinian poets, writers in a place of conflict providing a voice for those who feel they don't have one.
Emory University professor and poet Kevin Young has released a collection of poems, titled "For the Confederate Dead," about returning to the South and "wrestling with some of the demons of history and war."
Two married poets have taken a new approach to crafting their works, participating in a Web experiment that forces them to write their poems in just 15 minutes. On Valentine's Day, the husband and wife team write love poems to one another via the site.
Galway Kinnell Former Pulitzer Prize winning poet and professor
Poet Galway Kinnell reads "Why Regret?" a poem from his latest book about "engaging ourselves with the common acts, the ordinary things, the other creatures."
New U.S. poet laureate
Donald Hall gives a tour of his New Hampshire farm where he has written poetry
for over 30 years. He also reads poems on nature, love and loss, suggests that
poetry is becoming more popular and explores the art of saying the unsayable.
