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April 20, 2022, 7:44 a.m.

Citizen poets share details of their pandemic lives in ‘Dear Vaccine’

Summary

A new poetry anthology called “Dear Vaccine: Global Voices Speak to the Pandemic” illuminates how people around the world have experienced COVID-19. Jeffrey Brown sits down with Naomi Shihab Nye, an author, editor and current Young People’s Poet Laureate, to talk about shaping the book and the outpouring of interest from people who don’t necessarily identify as poets.

Five Facts

  • Who contributed to this collection?
  • Where are the contributors based?
  • What form does each poem take in this collection?
  • Why did the editors choose to solicit poems from people who aren't professional poets?
  • How do people submit poems to this project?

Focus Questions

Why do you think the editors of this collection intentionally chose work from people who don't necessarily consider themselves poets? Media literacy: Why did the editors choose to have all contributors follow the same model of poem, involving addressing the vaccine itself? What does this rule add to the collection as a whole?

For More

  • To learn more about the Global Vaccine Poem and watch recordings of contributors reading their poems, click here . If there's time, you can write and contribute your own poem!
  • Also check out our Pandemic Poetry lesson featuring poet Jasmine Gardosi. You can watch her recite her poem from a roller-coaster below:

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