Feb 01 How police harassment and hip-hop turned a Chicago teen into a poet By Corinne Segal Years after a troubling interaction with police, Nate Marshall would confront the experience in poetry. Continue reading
Jan 25 The problem with how we look at fatness, in one poem By Corinne Segal Poet and body positive activist Rachel Wiley wants to change the way we look at fatness. Continue reading
Jan 18 The poem that led Missy Elliot to surprise a young fan with a visit By Corinne Segal What do you do when Missy Elliot shows up at your door? Poet Ashlee Haze found herself asking that earlier this month, after one of her poems caught Elliot’s attention. In “For Colored Girls (The Missy Elliot Poem),” Haze… Continue reading
Jan 12 Poet Reginald Dwayne Betts on America’s ‘lost generation’ By artsdesk Reginald Dwayne Betts grew up an honor student with hopes for college, but went to prison at 16 for carjacking, his first run-in with the law. Reading, and poetry in particular, became a comfort and gave him a new identity. Continue reading
Jan 11 This Chicago program connects incarcerated youth to poetry By artsdesk Free Write Jail Arts and Literacy aims to help troubled youths in Chicago’s Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center address their personal issues by writing poetry about their circumstances and upbringing. Jeffrey Brown talks with poet Reginald Dwayne Betts, who… Continue reading
Jan 11 Poet Reginald Dwayne Betts returns to the city that nearly broke him By Frank Carlson Betts' new book touches on the way he believes institutions -- schools, the police, the judicial system -- helped create a lost generation of young black men. Continue reading
Jan 04 Poetry is protest for poet Sasha Banks By Corinne Segal When officer Darren Wilson killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown last August, Sasha Banks wanted to use poetry to hold the country accountable. Continue reading
Dec 28 Hieu Minh Nguyen challenges white supremacy in poems about his family By Corinne Segal Nguyen, a Minneapolis-based poet who writes on race, queerness and history, dove into the past with "White Boy Time Machine: Instruction Manual."… Continue reading
Dec 21 Poet remembers the man who fought — and died — to save Palmyra By Corinne Segal On May 13, the Islamic State began an offensive to invade the city of Palmyra, demanding the location of the city’s most valuable ancient treasures. Continue reading
Dec 14 What gun violence looks like, in one powerful poem By Corinne Segal Gun violence "can't be solved with political correctness," poet Aziza Barnes says. Continue reading