Sep 19 Watch 7:23 U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo on opening a ‘doorway of hope’ for indigenous artists By Jeffrey Brown, Kira Wakeam Joy Harjo, the new poet laureate of the United States, is the first Native American to achieve that honor. Jeffrey Brown recently sat down with Harjo, a member of Oklahoma's Muscogee Creek Nation, in Tulsa to discuss how arts shaped… Continue watching
Jun 26 Watch 6:10 At this D.C. jail, a book club offers a safe space By Jeffrey Brown, Rachel Wellford Reading and writing can provide a profession, a passion or an escape from reality. In Washington, D.C., the Free Minds Book Club positions the activities as mechanisms through which incarcerated people can express themselves in healthy and constructive ways. As… Continue watching
Jun 19 Joy Harjo becomes first Native American named U.S. poet laureate By Hillel Italie, Associated Press Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement that Harjo helped tell an "American story" of traditions both lost and maintained, of "reckoning and myth-making. Continue reading
Mar 15 W.S. Merwin, prize-winning poet of nature, dies at 91 By Hillel Italie, Jennifer Kelleher, Associated Press A Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate, Merwin completed more than 20 books. Continue reading
Feb 08 When you turn 29, ‘metamorphosis is not optional,’ this poet says By Lora Strum For poet Hala Alyan, year 29 was an "emotional border" comprised of necessary endings and new beginnings. Continue reading
Jan 21 How the public domain offers new life to these poetry classics By Lora Strum 2019 marks the first mass copyright expiration in more than two decades, freeing up works like Robert Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" for academic, creative and commercial use. Continue reading
Dec 28 Watch 3:27 Remembering acclaimed Israeli author Amos Oz Renowned Israeli author Amos Oz has died of cancer at age 79. His novels, essays and short stories made him one of Israel’s most widely read writers, and reportedly, a contender for the Nobel Prize in literature. Throughout his life,… Continue watching
Dec 28 Acclaimed author Amos Oz dies at 79, Israeli media say By Associated Press Oz, author of novels, prose and a widely acclaimed memoir, had suffered from cancer, the reports say. Continue reading
Dec 27 Watch 5:11 This poet put the Yazidi women’s suffering and strength into words By Jeffrey Brown Learning about the horrors endured by Yazidi women at the hands of the Islamic State awakened something personal for Iraqi-American poet and former journalist Dunya Mikhail. In her book "The Beekeeper," she shares first-hand accounts of their pain and heroism. Continue watching
Dec 21 12 gifts of poetry for everyone on your list By Lora Strum Poets and literary editors share a timeless present -- one that never shrinks, breaks or runs out of battery life. Continue reading