Aug 17 How poetry can empower people living with chronic illness By Corinne Segal For Camisha Jones, the managing director of Washington, D.C.-based poetry organization Split This Rock, poetry helped give voice to the experience of living with chronic illness. Continue reading
Aug 10 Poet explores how to 'undress' language By artsdesk Poet Wang Ping writes at the intersection of gender, sexuality and the Chinese immigrant experience. Continue reading
Aug 03 How slam 'breaks the silence' for marginalized voices By Corinne Segal For Janae Johnson, a Boston-based spoken word poet who won the Women of the World Poetry Slam this spring, poetry is a bold act of breaking the silence. Continue reading
Jul 27 Poet creates first class for transgender poetry By Corinne Segal Trace Peterson, a poet at the forefront of the push for transgender representation in poetry, will soon pioneer what she says is the country's first course in transgender poetry. Continue reading
Jul 20 A detail you may not have known about Eric Garner blossoms in poem By Corinne Segal Eric Garner's last words, "I can't breathe," are the backdrop for "A Small Needful Fact," a poem by Indiana University professor and poet Ross Gay. Continue reading
Jul 13 Pulitzer winner Gregory Pardlo on the intersection of public and private By artsdesk Watch Gregory Pardlo read his poem "Written by Himself" from his Pulitzer Prize-winning collection "Digest."… Continue reading
Jul 06 Teen poet on loss, growth and 'the struggle' of the physical being By artsdesk In her poem, “I’m Sorry I’m Not a Hugger,” teen poet Madeleine LeCesne writes about loss and growth and “the struggle of being a physical being.” LeCesne is the Southwest National Student Poet, the nation’s highest honor for teen poets… Continue reading
Jun 29 Poem begins with grief, ends with the NewsHour By artsdesk Dan Chelotti is the author of "x" (McSweeney's). He is an Associate Professor of English at Elms College, and he lives in Massachusetts. Continue reading
Jun 22 Ernesto L. Abeytia's 'Pamplona' inspired by midnight in Spain By artsdesk Ernesto L. Abeytia's poem “Pamplona,” previously published in "The Albion Review," was inspired by the poet's travels while living and studying in Madrid. Continue reading
Jun 15 Cuban writer and son of revolutionary Che Guevara reads his poem, 'The Concept' By artsdesk Omar Pérez is a Cuban poet, translator, essayist, editor, ordained Zen Buddhist monk and the son of revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara. He graduated from the University of Havana in 1987 with a degree in English and then went on to… Continue reading