Oct 10 When a hurricane turns a familiar place into ‘familiar debris’ By Mary Jo Brooks Alison Pelegrin, a poet and native of New Orleans, has lived through many hurricanes, but says Katrina forever changed her. "I wear the scars, but I’m able to go on."… Continue reading
Oct 03 If the walls of an immigrant detention center could speak By Mary Jo Brooks Poet Teow Lim Goh imagines the voices of Chinese immigrants who were detained at Angel Island between 1910 and 1940. Continue reading
Sep 26 Seeing a culture of fear, poet explores the immigrant dream By Mary Jo Brooks Poet Tishani Doshi has long reflected on the idea of immigration and creating a new home in new land. But she has become alarmed about the “culture of fear” that has developed toward immigrants in the United Sates and Britain. Continue reading
Sep 19 A Defense Department dictionary helped this poet write in the language of war By Mary Jo Brooks Solmaz Sharif says she has always been obsessed with state-sponsored language. But it wasn’t until 10 years ago when she stumbled onto a Defense Department dictionary that she began to write what would become an entire book of poetry using… Continue reading
Sep 09 What it was like to watch the 9/11 attacks from your classroom window By Mary Jo Brooks On Sept. 11, 2001, Annie Thoms was 25 and just starting her second year teaching English at Stuyvesant High School, which is located just four blocks from Ground Zero. In the months that followed, she worked with her students to… Continue reading
Sep 05 A poet’s ode to the meaning of work By Mary Jo Brooks Philip Levine wrote 20 collections of verse, won a Pulitzer Prize and served as Poet Laureate of the United States. Yet he always considered his main mission was to document and honor the lives of working-class people. Continue reading
Aug 29 Poet explores the explosive potential of the bikini By Mary Jo Brooks Caitlin Doyle tries to use language in a way that prompts readers to let down their guard and enter a poem for the visceral pleasure of the sounds. Continue reading
Aug 15 This poet worries about not being able to protect his son from violence By Mary Jo Brooks Poet Joseph LMS Green wrote the poem "Hands" as a reaction to police violence against young Black men and the helplessness he feels in protecting his young son from such situations. Continue reading
Aug 08 Road to Rio is paved with poetry for runner Alexi Pappas By Mary Jo Brooks The 26-year-old athlete, who will compete in the women's 10,000 meter at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, was a poetry major. Continue reading
Aug 01 A poet sees the light after the darkness of illness By Mary Jo Brooks Judith Barrington writes about memory, childhood, love and mortality. “When anything impacts me emotionally or spiritually or intellectually, my immediate response is to put it into words, to capture it — which of course no one can do. The written… Continue reading