Poetry

A poet’s history lesson on Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood

By Anne Azzi Davenport

Jacqueline Woodson, one of America's premier writers of young adult and children's literature, is out with her second novel for adults called "Another Brooklyn." It's set in the Brooklyn borough of Bushwick, her childhood neighborhood, which becomes one of the…

This poet worries about not being able to protect his son from violence

By Mary Jo Brooks

Poet Joseph LMS Green wrote the poem "Hands" as a reaction to police violence against young Black men and the helplessness he feels in protecting his young son from such situations.

Road to Rio is paved with poetry for runner Alexi Pappas

By Mary Jo Brooks

The 26-year-old athlete, who will compete in the women's 10,000 meter at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, was a poetry major.

A poet sees the light after the darkness of illness

By Mary Jo Brooks

Judith Barrington writes about memory, childhood, love and mortality. “When anything impacts me emotionally or spiritually or intellectually, my immediate response is to put it into words, to capture it — which of course no one can do. The written…

A poet who sees love and fear as intertwined

By Mary Jo Brooks

Kasey Jueds writes personal poems about childhood, memory, relationships and longing. “But I hope they’re not strictly autobiographical. I love when there is mystery left for other readers and that they aren’t so pinned down to my life that there…

Of black shootings by police, poet asks: When will it stop?

By Mary Jo Brooks

Poet Ed Pavlic has written numerous poems and essays about the complicated relationship between black men and the police. Much of it comes from personal experience.

Instead of fireworks, poet sees American skies lit up by history

By Mary Jo Brooks

John Brehm wrote the poem “Fourth of July” about a soldier who tried to brush burning embers off his chest, only to discover he was missing his right arm.

The goal of this kids’ story about soccer? To foster a love of poetry

By Mary Jo Brooks

Nick Hall, the 12-year-old protagonist in Kwame Alexander’s latest novel-in-verse, “Booked,” is a soccer star who dreams of playing in the European Cup. Unfortunately, his days are filled with the more mundane challenges.

After the Orlando tragedy, putting the defiant act of survival into poetry

By Mary Jo Brooks

Poet Joe Jimenez turned to poetry in the days following the Orlando tragedy. “The Orlando shooting saddens and enrages me. And I wonder to what extent I’ve been complicit in the violence by remaining silent? "…

Seeking solace in poetry after a mass shooting

By Mary Jo Brooks

Poets Marjory Wentworth and Marcus Amaker found that poetry helped them cope in the aftermath of the shooting at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church one year ago.