Oct 01 Watch Poet finds solace in elegy of departed son's wild energy By PBS News Hour When Edward Hirsch lost his son to a drug-related cardiac arrest, the poet began collecting his memories. Overwhelmed with grief, Hirsch turned his reflections into a book-length elegy, now published as “Gabriel.” Jeffrey Brown spoke with Hirsch near his home… Continue watching
Oct 01 Poet Edward Hirsch grieves his late son with an elegy for 'Gabriel' By Frank Carlson In 2011, Gabriel Hirsch, the 22-year-old son of acclaimed poet Edward Hirsch, died from a drug overdose. His father was beside himself with grief, and for a long time could not bring himself to work (since 2003 Hirsch has been… Continue reading
Oct 01 Watch Edward Hirsch reads another excerpt from "Gabriel: A Poem" By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Oct 01 Watch Edward Hirsch reads an excerpt from "Gabriel: A Poem" By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Sep 29 Weekly Poem: Sam Taylor struggles to speak Chinese By Andrew Troast We've taken our environment for granted for centuries and now we're at a point of "crisis." That is the driving theme in “Nude Descending an Empire,” the new collection by Sam Taylor published in August, which he was inspired to… Continue reading
Sep 25 Paramedic training, poetry change lives for California youth with few options By Cat Wise EMS Corps is relatively new Alameda County program that trains young men from disadvantaged backgrounds how to be EMTs. For a community where unemployment and incarceration rates are among the highest in the nation for men of color, the program… Continue reading
Sep 22 Weekly Poem: Carl Adamshick writes for the 'mysterious other' By Victoria Fleischer Carl Adamshick has been writing poetry seriously for 20 years and in most of the time he found himself with shorter poems. That’s what you’ll find if you pick up his first collection, “Curses and Wishes,” which won the Walt… Continue reading
Sep 15 Weekly Poem: Saeed Jones composes a 'Prelude' to one Boy's coming-of-age By Anya van Wagtendonk Poet Saeed Jones explores themes of gender and masculinity, sex and violence, power, history and memory in his debut poetry collection, “Prelude to Bruise.” Crafted over the course of nearly five years, the book narrates the development of a figure… Continue reading
Sep 10 Watch Poet remembers fallen friend James Foley By PBS News Hour James Foley -- an American journalist who was murdered as a hostage by the Islamic State group -- met poet Daniel Johnson many years ago, and the two became good friends. When Foley was captured in Syria, Johnson wrote a… Continue watching
Sep 10 For his friend James Foley, Daniel Johnson reads 'In the Absence of Sparrows' By Anne Azzi Davenport Poet Daniel Johnson wrote "In the Absence of Sparrows" during the 656-day captivity of his close friend, journalist James Foley. on Aug 19, Foley became the first American citizen known to be killed by the Islamic State group. Continue reading