Megan Willome’s reading of Rita Dove’s Thomas and Beulah is a reminder that sometimes the moments that change us most aren’t the ones that make the news.
Persecuted Poets: Hearing the Voices Beyond Our Borders
Now, perhaps more than ever, it’s important to make room in our literary conversations for those poets whose voices were, or have been, or are still silenced because they dared to be our lanterns.
Forward Prize for Best First Collection: “Wife” by Tiphanie Yanique
“Wife, ” winner of the Forward Prize for best first collection, challenges our notions of what marriage mean, but ends up reaffirming the idea of commitment.
Take Your Poet to Work: Maya Angelou
As we continue to get ready for the 2015 Take Your Poet to Work Day Celebration, this week we welcome Maya Angelou to our collection of ready-for-work poets.
Poets and Poems: Claudia Rankine and “Citizen”
The poems by Claudia Rankine in “Citizen” startle and confront. They challenge ways of being, thought, interactions between people. And what all of this means in the context of skin color.
Poets and Poems: Willie Perdomo and Saeed Jones
Two finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry, Willie Perdomo and Saeed Jones, have produced poems of music, remembrance and pain.
Take Your Poet to Work: Langston Hughes
Be the envy of your coworkers when you bring Langston Hughes to the office with you for Take Your Poet to Work Day on July 16. He’s our first poet of 2014.
Maya Angelou: The Poetry and Life of Reinvention
Maya Angelou was an unlikely candidate for literary success. But she reinvented herself, more than once.
Eating and Drinking Poems: Lucille Clifton’s ‘Cutting Greens’
In this Eating and Drinking Poems post, Kathryn Neel pairs ‘cutting greens’ by Lucille Clifton with a southern recipe for collard greens.
Poets and Poems: Gwendolyn Brooks’ ‘Selected Poems’
Poets and poems: Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African-American to receive the Pulitzer Prize, wrote about the people she knew and the history always with us.
Eating and Drinking Poems: Rita Dove’s “Chocolate”
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Kathryn Neel’s latest “Eating and Drinking Poems” post features a flourless chocolate soufflé recipe with a loving ode to chocolate by Rita Dove.
Poets and Poems: Patricia Smith
This week’s “Poets and Poems” highlights Patricia Smith’s work, including her poem “They Romp with Wooly Canines” and her performance of “Skinhead.”
National Poetry Month: Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) wrote poetry for more than 70 years, and has the distinction of being the first black author to win the Pulitzer Prize (in 1950 for Annie Allen: Poems). She also received numerous other honors and recognitions, including a nomination for the National Book Award, the National Medal for the Arts, serving as […]
Terrance Hayes’ “Lighthead: Poems”
To read Lighthead: Poems by Terrance Hayes is to enter a world that’s distinctly uncomfortable, almost jarring, as if the familiar has become dislocated. Perhaps it’s like experiencing lightheadedness, except it’s experiencing it as a state of normal. And you know this from the beginning of this collection of poems: “Ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and […]
National Poetry Month: Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) published her first poem in a children’s magazine when she was 13; by 17, she had some 75 published poems in her portfolio. At 33, she received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, the first African-American to achieve that honor. In 1985, she was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant to the Library of Congress. […]