Sometimes the best questions come from kids. Questions like, “Why do people write poetry anyway?” Which is just another way to ask why people need poetry.
Stephen Burt has some intriguing ideas on how to answer this. Check out his Ted Talk on Why People Need Poetry.
Photo by Pai Shih, Creative Commons, via Flickr.
L.L. Barkat is the Managing Editor of Tweetspeak Poetry and the author of six books for grown-ups and four for children, including the popular Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing. She has also served as a writer for The Huffington Post blog and is a freelance writer for Edutopia. Her poetry has appeared on NPR and at VQR and The Best American Poetry. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
Latest posts by L.L. Barkat (see all)
- A Surprise Poetry Stories Collection—Plus, the Giveaway Winner! - May 10, 2021
- How to Write a Form Poem: Hear the Poets Read! - April 30, 2021
- A Blessing for Writers - April 19, 2021
Megan Willome says
I like his link between science fiction and poetry.
L. L. Barkat says
I should get my eldest to watch it and further the ideas. She’s a big sci fi and poetry fan both 🙂
SimplyDarlene says
that image is terrifical.
and the video? i’ll have to take a trip to town and mooch someone’s dsl connection — good excuse for a fancy-pants coffee, aye?
Richard Maxson says
Education (not schooling) has always been to me like the image of this post; it is always a part or parts of something larger and it says so by its openendedness; there is always something more left unsaid or not shown, something for which to continue moving.
Last week I finished Maureen Doallas’s interviews with Joseph Hutchison and a few moments ago this video. I walked away from both with far more than I came to see, feeling I left with something both private and something shared.
I found the introductory image by Pai Shih so fitting for the post that followed. It is an image that says, “this image is for you alone, except for a ring, a surface and a color; those are for everyone.”
L.L. Barkat says
“I walked away from both with far more than I came to see, feeling I left with something both private and something shared.”
This is really something, this morning, as I consider a little movement we sort of started yesterday as a result of a Facebook conversation. We’re calling it: Citizens for a Saner Internet—And Life.
One of the measures of this sanity and life might be exactly your quote.
Richard Maxson says
“Citizens for a Saner Internet — And Life” Sounds interesting. Would that be a section for social commentary?