Nov 16 Poet Danez Smith issues a wake-up call to white America By Corinne Segal “Dear White America” is a sprawling testimony to the effects of racial violence in the U.S. Continue reading
Nov 09 What Buddhism taught poet G Yamazawa about using ‘gay’ as a slur By Corinne Segal Growing up Buddhist and Japanese-American in a mostly-white and black community in North Carolina, Yamazawa found an avenue of self-expression in rap and poetry. Continue reading
Nov 02 For poet Fatimah Asghar, the word ‘orphan’ has more than one meaning By Corinne Segal English needs to be broken, according to poet Fatimah Asghar. For Asghar, that goal is a reason to create spoken word poetry, using the language in new ways and to address stories at the margins, including her own. Continue reading
Oct 26 Spoken word poet Elizabeth Acevedo issues a challenge to rape culture By Corinne Segal Acevedo's poem "Spear" follows a speaker in the aftermath of her daughter's sexual assault. Continue reading
Oct 19 Chicana writer on the poetry embedded in her migrant father’s rough hands By Corinne Segal Poet and activist Marilynn Montaño did not know what it meant for her parents to be undocumented until middle school. Montaño, who was born in the U.S., witnessed her parents’ efforts to gain papers that would allow them to legally… Continue reading
Oct 12 What racial, disability and LGBTQ justice have in common By Corinne Segal For Kay Ulanday Barrett, poetry is a testimony to survival. The poet testifies to living at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities: “transgender, disabled, a person of color [and] from a rough economic background,” he said. “It’s been my struggle… Continue reading
Oct 05 What we lose when we forget Native American history By Corinne Segal Lisa Yankton, a Minneapolis-based poet and member of the Spirit Lake Dakota, carries Dakota history and tradition forward through poetry. Continue reading
Sep 28 Why we need to listen to undocumented poets By Corinne Segal When we talk about undocumented immigrants, who are we leaving behind?… Continue reading
Sep 21 Poet Kiki Petrosino asks: Can people change? By Corinne Segal Kiki Petrosino’s poetry began as a child in the backseat of her mother’s car. Many nights, the family would drive to and from Catonsville Community College near Baltimore to pick up Petrosino’s father, a public school teacher who taught evening… Continue reading
Sep 14 Read the first-ever poetry journal by trans writers By Corinne Segal The literary world reached a milestone this month with the debut of "Vetch," the first submission-based literary journal devoted to poetry by transgender writers. Continue reading