Full Title: "‘Artists are resilient’: Spoken word poetry functions as both creative outlet and source of support for artists of color in gentrifying Seattle (via Seattle Times)" The room was already electric. By the time Ebo Barton was preparing to walk on stage at the Northwest African American Museum’s Alchemy Spoken Word event in July, … Continue reading Support for artists of color in gentrifying Seattle (via Seattle Times)
Regie Cabico offers advice on tackling his craft. “If you don’t know what to write, write a poem,” he says. “Things that you could never tell your mother, things you could never tell your father, and a lot will come out.” Cabico, who calls himself an “accidental poet,” specializes in slam poetry, a genre that … Continue reading Why Spoken Word Artist Regie Cabico Calls Himself an ‘Accidental Poet’ (via Smithsonian)
Sarah Yerkes was in her 90s when a friend invited her to try something new. A graduate of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, Yerkes had had decades-long careers: first as a landscape architect using brick and stone; then as a sculptor creating abstract works in wood and steel, and in her later years, papier-mache. … Continue reading At age 101, this woman released her first collection of poems (via Washington Post)
It is difficult to imagine a more daunting task for a newspaper editor than planning the next day’s front page when the world has just witnessed humanity’s crowning achievement: the successful landing of two of its kind on an alien world. The headlines you write, the photos you place, the prose you edit—you are not … Continue reading Sometimes Even Newspapers Need Poetry (via The Atlantic)
Some of the most devoted theatre artists never set foot onstage, preferring to contribute from behind the scenes. Floyd Walston is among those celebrating this long and proud theatrical lineage. “I do tech,” says Walston, one of two sons of the owners of longtime Tempe bakery Great Harvest who works at the store while attending Mesa Community … Continue reading Theatre for teens exposes the hurt cast by bullies (via Wrangler News)
As a poet herself, working at the Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., has been the perfect opportunity for rising Penn junior Joyce Hida, especially since she is interested in arts administration. “I just love listening to poetry for hours,” says Hida, an English major in the School of Art and Sciences from Vernon, … Continue reading Immersed in poetry at the Library of Congress (via Penn Today)
Joy Harjo started writing as a college student in New Mexico in the early 1970s, during what she described as “the beginning of a multicultural literary movement.” At gatherings around the Southwest, she began meeting poets, including Native American ones. Hearing them perform made her realize that poetry was available to everyone, including her. “It … Continue reading Joy Harjo Is Named U.S. Poet Laureate (via NY Times)
Full Title: "Spoken Word Is The Most Empowering Art Form Out There – 5 Women Tell Us Why (via Refinery29)" Spoken word is far from the pretentious stereotype that we've seen mimicked in TV and films over the years. You know the one; a beret-wearing, roll-up-smoking grad student shouting angrily into a microphone against the exposed … Continue reading Spoken Word Is The Most Empowering Art Form Out There (via Refinery29)
On Sat., June 15, visitors to Carnegie Library's main branch will find collections of books to borrow not only inside the building but outside of it. The Poetry to the People tour is a multi-city book truck road trip — beginning in New York and ending in New Orleans — that brings free books and … Continue reading The Poetry to the People tour brings renowned poets to deliver readings outside Carnegie Library (via Pittsburgh City Paper)
Acclaimed poet and South Burlington resident Major Jackson, an English professor at the University of Vermont, has been selected as co-editor of the 2019 edition of The Best American Poetry. Yes, non-poetry peeps: that is a BFD. The anthology, published by Simon & Schuster, is slated for release on September 10 — the day after Jackson’s 51st birthday. … Continue reading UVM’s Major Jackson Selected as Co-Editor of ‘The Best American Poetry’ (via Seven Days)
