Jun 12 Charles Wright named U.S. Poet Laureate By Mike Melia Charles Wright, a master of capturing landscape and meditation in verse, has been named the next Poet Laureate of the United States by the Library of Congress. It is the latest in a long list of honors and awards for… Continue reading
Jun 09 Weekly Poem: Pulitzer winner Vijay Seshadri reads 'Memoir' By Frank Carlson Vijay Seshadri opens his poem "Memoir" by paraphrasing George Orwell, writing that "no one ever writes the real story of their life. The real story of a life is the story of its humiliations."… Continue reading
Jun 02 Weekly Poem: Mark Ford evokes memory through poetic form By Victoria Fleischer Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Ford only lived there until the age of 4, but the move from Kenya to England stuck with him. From his memories of that time in his life, the poet crafted a pantoum, "which recreates that… Continue reading
May 26 Weekly Poem: Dan Chiasson and his poetry time machine By Victoria Fleischer Poet Dan Chiasson started working on his book “Bicentennial” after the death of his father, who left when Chiasson was 7 months old. While the two never really knew each other, that event prompted Chiasson to revisit his childhood in… Continue reading
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