May 03 Watch 5:32 Vietnamese American poet contemplates his personal ties to the war By Anne Azzi Davenport In “Night Sky With Exit Wounds,” poet Ocean Vuong pays tribute to the oral tradition of his family and his personal connection to the Vietnam War. Continue watching
May 02 How poetry helps us understand mental illness By Corinne Segal Poet Shira Erlichman writes about her relationship to Lithium to treat mental illness. Continue reading
Apr 25 How poet Shane McCrae learned to break the rules By Corinne Segal Shane McCrae's poems are often an experiment in form, built from nontraditional metrics and a focus on sound and texture. Continue reading
Apr 20 How poetry helped a Compton student survive trauma By Sarah Varney Compton student Kimberly Cervantes said that poetry helped her deal with trauma and the derision she faced at school for being bisexual. Continue reading
Apr 18 Poet delves into a Civil War spy's hidden history By Corinne Segal A poem by Anaïs Duplan looks at the life of Mary Bowser, a former slave who was a Union spy during the Civil War. Continue reading
Apr 11 Ocean Vuong on why reading poetry is political By Corinne Segal Ocean Vuong subverts the historical erasure of stories like his: of immigration, of queerness, of the aftermath of war. Continue reading
Apr 04 Chen Chen on writing poetry while Chinese, American and gay By Corinne Segal Chen Chen's earlier work began with an exploration of his own intersecting identities, parts of himself that he said other people told him could not exist at once. Continue reading
Mar 14 How poetry helped Marcelo Hernandez Castillo speak out on immigration By Corinne Segal At a young age, language was Marcelo Hernandez Castillo's best defense. Growing up undocumented, Castillo said that fluency in English -- and, later, poetry -- were the tools with which he could protect against deportation. Writing was "a way… Continue reading
Mar 07 Poet's haunting work recalls the 'trauma' of assimilation By Corinne Segal Vanessa Angelica Villarreal writes about growing up in Texas, cultural assimilation and the myths of her Mexican family's history. Continue reading
Feb 29 Why grief is political for poet Muriel Leung By Corinne Segal Poet Muriel Leung began writing about grief and loss in college following the death of her father. Continue reading