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Kevin Young intertwines personal and public history in ‘Brown’
As a writer, editor and archivist, Kevin Young is a poet actively engaged with the world. In his new collection, "Brown," Young draws heavily on his boyhood in Topeka, Kansas, tying it in large and small ways to the wider…
This poem shows what sexual abuse looks like
“From One / who says, ‘Don’t cry. You’ll like it after a while,’” she writes. “And Two who tells you thank you / after the fact and can’t look at your face.”…
Why U.S. Virgin Islanders feel there’s no place they belong
Hurricane Irma devastated the U.S. Virgin Islands, leveling homes, knocking out power, and turning the landscape into a “battered wasteland” where some say media coverage was minimal and help was late to arrive. Now, the islands are under…
This poem grapples with America’s complicated identity
"I think of the U.S. as an adolescent country. It's not the old, wise European country, or very young either, it's somewhere in the middle," poet Dorianne Laux says.
Poet Matthew Zapruder say that we are too often asked to find the "hidden meanings" in poems, as if a poem is a riddle.
Tracy K. Smith, a writer and teacher, is taking on a very public role as the nation's poet laureate. Jeffrey Brown sits down with Smith to discuss how language can be a tool of revelation, her reflections on race in…
Dungy's new collection of poetry asks us, in spite of the pain or difficulty of being human today, to find joy and vibrancy in our experiences.
While Margot Douaihy's new book is a love letter to Scranton, she said it also acknowledges the Rust Belt's limits.
The Black Lives Matter movement asks us to say the names of the black men and women who have died in encounters with police. Poet and educator Simone John wants us to also understand their stories, through her debut collection…
