Aug 22 A poet's history lesson on Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood By Anne Azzi Davenport Jacqueline Woodson, one of America's premier writers of young adult and children's literature, is out with her second novel for adults called "Another Brooklyn." It's set in the Brooklyn borough of Bushwick, her childhood neighborhood, which becomes one of the… Continue reading
Aug 11 Watch 4:13 This Olympian -- and poet -- on her love for "freedom within boundaries" By PBS News Hour On Friday, long-distance runner Alexi Pappas will compete in Rio in her first-ever Olympic race. But unlike many of her Olympic peers, Pappas does not put all her talent in one basket. In addition to training as a world-class runner,… Continue watching
Aug 08 Road to Rio is paved with poetry for runner Alexi Pappas By Mary Jo Brooks The 26-year-old athlete, who will compete in the women's 10,000 meter at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, was a poetry major. Continue reading
Aug 07 Meet the Deaf Poets Society, a digital journal for writers with disabilities By Corinne Segal Deaf Poets Society, a new digital literary magazine, has a message for writers with disabilities: we see you. We want you to be here. And this is your space. Continue reading
Jul 29 Artists use Twitter and translation to rally behind poet jailed in Saudi Arabia By Kassia Halcli Artists and activists this week showed their support for Ashraf Fayadh, a Palestinian poet who has been held in a Saudi prison for more than two years, by translating his writings and tweeting his picture with the hashtag #FreeAshraf. Continue reading
Jul 11 Of black shootings by police, poet asks: When will it stop? By Mary Jo Brooks Poet Ed Pavlic has written numerous poems and essays about the complicated relationship between black men and the police. Much of it comes from personal experience. Continue reading
Jun 27 The goal of this kids' story about soccer? To foster a love of poetry By Mary Jo Brooks Nick Hall, the 12-year-old protagonist in Kwame Alexander’s latest novel-in-verse, “Booked,” is a soccer star who dreams of playing in the European Cup. Unfortunately, his days are filled with the more mundane challenges. Continue reading
Jun 17 Watch 4:33 On anniversary of church shooting, South Carolina poets offer healing through verse By PBS News Hour Friday saw the first anniversary of the shooting at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, where alleged white supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine black churchgoers. Among those who struggled to come to terms with the tragedy were two local poets, musician and… Continue watching
May 30 Watch 5:43 Using poetry to shed light on the worst of memories, including genocide By PBS News Hour Just over a century ago, the Armenian Genocide saw the expulsion and death of at least 1.5 million people in what was then the Ottoman Empire. Among those affected was Pulitzer-winning poet Peter Balakian’s family, which did its best to… Continue watching
May 23 When cancer changed everything, writing poems was an act of healing By Mary Jo Brooks Gail Rudd Entrekin and her husband Charles turned to poetry to deal with the frustration, fear and anger they felt during Charles' battle with cancer. Continue reading