Poetry is boring. And difficult. At least that’s what Journie Rodriguez thought at the beginning of the just-completed school year. By the end of the school year, however, the King Elementary fifth-grader had changed her mind. Her English class took part in Poetry Paths, a program that teaches students in the School District of Lancaster…Read more Poetry program helps Lancaster students express themselves (via Lancaster Online)
In half a decade, the number of U.S. adults who are reading poetry has nearly doubled. That's according to the results of a new survey by the National Endowment for the Arts, which announced Thursday that "as a share of the total U.S. adult population, this poetry readership is the highest on record over a…Read more Poetry Is Making A Big Comeback In The U.S., Survey Results Reveal (via NPR)
Full Title: "Celebrating poetry in its mass-market moment ahead of 2018 Griffin Prize gala" “Poets are among the hardest working writers,” says Kevin Williams, who would know first-hand: As the publisher of Talonbooks, he’s worked with 2017 Griffin Poetry Prize-winner Jordan Abel and 2018 nominee Donato Mancini and is familiar with the challenges faced by…Read more Celebrating poetry ahead of 2018 Griffin Prize gala (via Globe and Mail)
Acclaimed memoirist Mary Karr has just published "Tropic of Squalor," a new collection of poetry. Included in the collection are poems about her family, her relationship with God and David Foster Wallace, with whom she had an abusive relationship. Interview Highlights On her volatile relationship with David Foster Wallace "I had a relationship, he had the volatile…Read more Memoirist Mary Karr On God, Poetry And Her Own #MeToo Moments (via WBUR)
Most people his age would never guess that the buoyant, friendly Kendall Patterson they brush past on campus is likely walking around with a notebook full of handwritten poetry exploring feelings of depression and loneliness. Patterson’s poetry is honest. His words are brave and unashamed of the attention they may bring him. Whether writing lines…Read more ‘Dear Kendall’: Student self-publishes deeply personal poetry collection (via Daily Mississippian)
Full Title: "‘Blindspotting’s Daveed Diggs And Rafael Casal’s Spoken Word Performance Honors Victims Of Police Violence" Click here to watch video. Diggs and Casal wax poetic about police violence and from the beginning recite the names of victims that have made headlines such as Freddie Gray, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Sandra Bland and many others. Passionate and…Read more Spoken Word Performance Honors Victims Of Police Violence (via Deadline)
Full Title: "Where does music end and poetry begin? David Grubbs wrote his first poem to find out (via Washington Post)" “Now that the audience is assembled,” a new book-length poem by musician David Grubbs, reminds us that listening can feel stranger than dreaming. The poem is a real-time report from an imaginary concert where…Read more Where does music end and poetry begin? (via Washington Post)
