Feb 10 Weekly Poem: Nick Lantz uses ‘how-to’ guides as inspiration By Victoria Fleischer If you pick up Nick Lantz’s new poetry collection, “How to Dance as the Roof Caves in,” you’ll recognize the "self-help" theme running through the titles. To name a few: “How to Travel Alone,” “How to Forgive a Promise Breaker,”… Continue reading
Feb 03 Watch Carolyn Forche reads Major John McCrae’s poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Jan 29 Watch Poet Carolyn Forché gathers 500 years of suffering in new anthology By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Jan 29 Carolyn Forche explores writing ‘as an outcry of the soul’ in ‘Poetry of Witness’ By artsdesk Carolyn Forche was deeply affected by her experience in war-torn countries. Forche is the co-editor of "Poetry of Witness." When she began collecting poems by writers who had endured warfare and other extreme situations, Forche wanted to look more deeply… Continue reading
Jan 29 Carolyn Forche explores writing ‘as an outcry of the soul’ in ‘Poetry of Witness’ By artsdesk Carolyn Forche, co-editor of the anthology "Poetry of Witness," read Major John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Field." Carolyn Forche was deeply affected by her experience in countries at war. Forche is the co-editor of the new anthology "Poetry… Continue reading
Jan 27 Weekly Poem: Peter Cole writes about why we read poetry By Victoria Fleischer Peter Cole thinks of all poetry as translation. "Writing one's own poetry, you're translating a nonverbal experience or a less than articulate experience into something much more articulate," he told Art Beat. In addition to writing his own, Cole translates… Continue reading
Jan 24 Remembering Argentine poet Juan Gelman By Victoria Fleischer "The moment he died in Argentina, the entire country came to a halt. It understood that part of its soul had left," Ilan Stavans told chief arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown. Stevens is a writer and a professor of Latin American… Continue reading
Jan 24 Remembering Robert Burns, national poet of Scotland, with windowpanes of words By Lorna Baldwin Walk around Dumfries, Scotland and you'll see poems in the windowpanes -- faint etchings in some and bold black markings in others. A few are the surviving work of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns, etched into the glass centuries ago. Continue reading
Jan 20 Syrian-American activist Amal Kassir uses slam poetry to fuel her cause By Mary Jo Brooks Amal Kassir lived in Syria for many years. She says her time there helped her understand the people's suffering while the freedoms she has in America allowed her to become an activist on their behalf. At 18, she performs slam… Continue reading