In “The Battle of Maldon,” Tolkien scholar Peter Grybauskas provides insights into both an epic poem and the great storyteller’s translation.
Poet Laura: For the Birds—A Poetry Reading … for Chickens
Dheepa R. Maturi reaches the “Reading Poetry to Chickens” stage of her Poet Laura journey. Join her at the chicken coop for couplets and rhymes.
Year of the Monarch: The Native Wildflowers Formerly Known as Weeds
Author Laura Boggess discovers the beauty—and necessity—of letting native wildflowers like milkweed grow in her yard to bring back the monarchs.
Poets and Poems: Stephen Cushman and “Keep the Feast”
In “Keep the Feast,” poet Stephen Cushman combines the sacred and secular, producing psalms that are jarring and challenging.
Poetry Prompt: Back to School, in the Second Person
Find your way back to school with this poetry prompt that uses second person. The trip might be deeper, more dreamlike if you do.
Bookstore Tour: Transom is a Tarrytown Delight!
Transom is a small bookshop with a big heart in Tarrytown, New York. It boasts beautiful display designs, a fabulous book selection, and a few surprising sights sure to bring delight.
Poets and Poems: Emma Lazarus and “Selected Poems”
Known for a single if famous poem, Emma Lazarus was an accomplished poet, writer, polemicist, and champion for the Jewish people.
Poets and Poems: Charles Reznikoff and “Poems”
In his first two poetry collections, Charles Reznikoff reflected the experience of Jewish immigrants to America.
Poetry Prompt: Into the Cave
Bring your courage and your curiosity and come into the cave with our “Into the Cave” poetry prompt!
Poets and Poems: Victoria Maria Castells and “The Rivers Are Inside Our Homes”
The poems of “The Rivers Are Inside Our Homes” by Victoria Maria Castells pulsate with imagery as they describe homelands old and new.
Poet Laura: The Butterfly Effect—Year of the Monarch
Dheepa R. Maturi, Tweetspeak’s Poet Laura, invites us to participate in the Year of the Monarch, a project both practical and poetic, to help our butterfly friends.
Is the Sonnet Also an American Art Form? David Bromwich Says Yes
In “American Sonnets,” Yale professor David Bromwich has assembled poems that suggest the sonnet is an American art form.
Congrats to Our Illustrator Sara Barkat! — Featured on Substack
Our illustrator Sara Barkat has been featured by Substack. Come celebrate the honor with her, and maybe pen a poem to go along.
Poets and Poems: Thomas Kinsella and “Last Poems”
“Last Poems” by Irish poet Thomas Kinsella explores the big, eternal questions that increasingly occupy our minds as we age.
Poetry Prompt: Courage to Follow
Not sure what to write? Join author Callie Feyen and a couple of middle schoolers and get courage to follow the mystery.
“Hamnet”: Visualizing What Inspired Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”
The novel and play “Hamnet” suggest that Shakespeare may have memorialized his son, who died in 1596, in the play “Hamlet.”
Poems to Listen By: Black Bird Soirée—10: Goodnight Crow
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Poets and Poems: Ellie O’Leary and “Breathe Here”
In “Breathe Here,” poet Ellie O’Leary writes of her childhood losses of her mother at age 10 and her father at 18.
Poetry Prompt: Being a Pilgrim and a Martha Stewart Homemaker
Join Callie Feyen and her journey into a 744 page book from Martha Stewart Homemaker. Then find yourself reflecting on what it means to be a pilgrim who alternately breaks myths and embraces them.
Poet Laura: I Surrender
Writer Dheepa R. Maturi enters a hard period in life, and it strongly blocks her writing. But then she finds a surprising way through. You could, too.