May 20 Poet Gina Loring on lost potential of LA’s incarcerated youth By Mary Jo Brooks "It's not just about the work on the page, it's about where you put your feet when you get out of bed in the morning." That was the mantra of Eloise Klein Healy when she created the graduate writing program… Continue reading
May 19 Weekly Poem: W. S. Di Piero uses language to create ’emotional immediacy’ By Victoria Fleischer W. S. Di Piero never wants to hear again that his poems are intense. “You get tired of hearing certain things if they get said so many times about the kind of work you do. I don’t write poems that… Continue reading
May 12 Weekly Poem: Mark Bibbins takes ‘little pieces’ to craft layers of meaning By Victoria Fleischer Bibbins writes poems like collages -– using words or anecdotes to create new layers of meaning. Continue reading
May 05 Weekly Poem: Kevin Powers approaches war with ‘unadorned honesty’ By Victoria Fleischer In his first collection of poems, “Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting,” former Army machine gunner Kevin Powers writes about combat and the consequences of conflict. Continue reading
Apr 28 Weekly Poem: Nikki Giovanni reads ‘The Lost Cause … Lost’ By artsdesk Nikki Giovanni's poem "The Lost Cause ... Lost" is published in "Lines in Long Array: A Civil War Commemoration: Poems and Photographs, Past and Present." In recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the Smithsonian's National Poetry Gallery… Continue reading
Apr 21 Weekly Poem: Yusef Komunyakaa reads ‘I Am Silas’ By artsdesk Yusef Komunyakaa's poem "I Am Silas" is published in "Lines in Long Array: A Civil War Commemoration: Poems and Photographs, Past and Present." In recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the Smithsonian's National Poetry Gallery commissioned 12… Continue reading
Apr 14 Weekly Poem: Paul Muldoon reads ‘A Civil War Suite’ By artsdesk Paul Muldoon's full poem "A Civil War Suite" is published in "Lines in Long Array: A Civil War Commemoration: Poems and Photographs, Past and Present." In recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the Smithsonian's National Poetry Gallery… Continue reading
Apr 11 Medgar Evers’ wife revisits his legacy 50 years later By Anne Azzi Davenport During the annual Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage, Myrlie Evers-Williams spoke about how Medgar Evers was killed in front of the house where he died. Watch an excerpt of her speech in the video above. The 14th Congressional Civil… Continue reading
Apr 11 Poet’s Notebook: Pilgrimage, Revisited By Natasha Trethewey U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey reads her poem “Incident,” while in Jackson, Mississippi. This year, because of the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, Congressman John Lewis led the 14th Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage not only to its… Continue reading
Apr 09 Poet Gerald Stern to receive the Poetry Society of America’s prestigious Frost Medal By artsdesk On Wednesday night the Poetry Society of America will honor poet Gerald Stern with the Frost Medal, the organization's highest award, given for lifetime achievement. The medal has previously been awarded to poets such as Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore… Continue reading