Oct 11 Watch 3:02 How poetry helps this young Afghan refugee 'empty' her pains and share her dreams By Rawan Elbaba, Student Reporting Labs October 11 is the International Day of the Girl. Tonight, we hear from one girl, a young Afghan poet, who left her country a few years ago with her family for security reasons. Aryan Ashory now lives in a refugee… Continue watching
Oct 07 Sonia Sanchez wins Gish Prize for lifetime achievement By Associated Press Poet, educator and activist Sonia Sanchez is this year’s winner of the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, a $250,000 lifetime achievement honor previously given to Chinua Achebe, Bob Dylan and Maya Lin among others. Continue reading
Oct 04 Watch 6:42 Pakistani musician Arooj Aftab's 'neo-Sufi' music blends Rumi with reggae and more By Tom Casciato The South Asian art form known as Sufi music has a centuries old tradition built on poetry and mysticism coupled with specific instruments, meters and repetition. Brooklyn-based Pakistani musician Arooj Aftab’s neo-Sufism is steeped in that tradition — yet also… Continue watching
Aug 04 Watch 4:10 This advocate says justice system is our failure to imagine anything besides punishment Jorge Antonio Renaud says that the United States is enamored with the idea that certain individuals are just “crime prone.” At 20, he was arrested and put in jail, where he survived a traumatic attack. Feeling lost led him to… Continue watching
Mar 29 A poem on how the human spirit survives overlapping crises By Joshua Barajas In Dr. Fady Joudah’s poem “House of Mercury,” a severe summer storm has blown over Houston. The poem is a tribute to the "beauty of the human spirit."… Continue reading
Mar 23 George C. Wolfe, Anne Carson win PEN achievement awards By Associated Press Tony Award-winner George C. Wolfe and Canadian poet-translator Anne Carson are among this year's winners of PEN America awards for career achievement. Continue reading
Mar 22 Watch 6:01 How one doctor's love for poetry helps him communicate with patients better By Jeffrey Brown, Anne Azzi Davenport As a part of our Arts and Culture series, CANVAS, Jeffrey Brown takes a look at the intersection of the alchemy of health and art with his profile of Fady Joudah, the physician-poet — or perhaps poet-physician. Continue watching
Mar 02 Watch 2:46 Poet Tess Taylor on how verse can provide solace For many, it's a time of uncertainty and isolation. But in poet Tess Taylor's humble opinion, turning to verse can provide solace. Her recent book of poems is "Rift Zone," and the following essay is part of our arts and… Continue watching
Feb 23 Beat poet, publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti dies at 101 By Janie Har, Hillel Italie, Associated Press Ferlinghetti helped launch and perpetuate the Beat movement. He was known for his City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, an essential meeting place for the Beats and other bohemians in the 1950s and beyond. Continue reading
Feb 07 WATCH: Amanda Gorman, in a first, brings poetry to Super Bowl By Jake Coyle, Associated Press Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old poet who stirred America at the inauguration of President Joseph Biden last month, again commanded the spotlight on one of the country’s biggest stages, the Super Bowl. Continue reading