March is Women’s History Month and April is National Poetry Month, and Black Mountain Institute nods to both with a spring speaker lineup centered on those topics. Women dominate the literary center’s March roster, with a talk about literary genre-blending by poet and essayist Megan O’Rourke (March 2), who began her career as one of … Continue reading Black Mountain Institute’s Spring Season Celebrates Women and Poetry (via Las Vegas Weekly)
Hannah Sturgis,16, started reading William Shakespeare's poetry in the third grade and Emily Dickinson's in the fifth grade. "I didn't understand it," she said with a laugh after winning the state-wide Poetry Out Loud competition Tuesday night. It's the second year in a row that she's won the recitation contest, which trots high school students … Continue reading Delaware teens compete for poetry prize (via Delaware Online)
It’s rare that a local opening act can command an audience’s attention as well as Lido Pimienta did warming up for Saul Williams. The recent NOW cover star carries herself with the casual confidence of someone who knows how powerful her voice is, and her percussion-heavy electronic pop easily won over the crowd. She can leap from … Continue reading Saul Williams Put His Acting and Spoken Word Talents to Use at Tattoo (via NOW Toronto)
On Saturday night, the Black Student Union (BSU) held their annual Poetry Jam. Featuring two performers, Jasmine Mans and Alysia Harris, it was an exciting event that brought poetry lovers from all ends of campus together. “It’s a tradition that has been going on for every Black History Month,” said Victoria Lewis, the president of … Continue reading Binghamton’s Black Student Union hosts annual poetry slam (via Pipe Dream)
The Dominican Student Association of Penn State held a week series of exploring the global idea of blackness and its relation to life in the United States. Yesterday evening, the students from Writers Organized to Represent Diverse Stories shared a series of poetry to dissect blackness and sought the perspective of how people from the … Continue reading Poetry sparks the conversation on blackness (via Daily Collegian)
Harper Lee, whose 1961 novel To Kill a Mockingbird became a national institution and the defining text on the racial troubles of the American deep south, has died at the age of 89. Lee, or Nelle as she was known to those close to her, had lived for several years in a nursing home less than … Continue reading Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, dies aged 89
Kane Smego sees poetry as an art form. He said it is a way to connect and convey emotions. He has traveled all over the world showcasing his art. He has performed in parts of Africa and South America. Smego uses spoken word poetry, a type of poetry performed onstage rather than just written on … Continue reading Poet spreads cultural diversity and identity through spoken word (via Webster Journal)
Bet you didn’t see that coming – Media Personality Jeremie Van-Garshong spitting some heavy bars on a record on Valentine’s Day. To celebrate the day of love, Van-Garshong has released a Spoken word piece titled ‘Call It Love’. The host of TouchDown on Live FM tells us in an interview, her decision was necessitated by … Continue reading Vals Day: Jeremie releases spoken word piece titled ‘Call It Love’ (via GhanaWeb)
“We all have poetry in us.” This is the first thing Neal Hall wants to be clear about. The renowned African American poet and medical doctor reads from his work at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, in the Carter Center for Worship and Music at Bridgewater College. While Hall is identified as an African-American poet, … Continue reading Hall’s poetry about more than ‘black history’ (via News Leader)
Voting is open until February 15. Vote here! West Virginia University Press is set to publish West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman's latest collection of poetry: Believe What You Can in October 2016. And the publishers are looking for help in choosing a cover for the book. In Believe What You Can Harshman explores the struggle of having an awareness of … Continue reading Help Choose W.Va. Poet Laureate’s New Poetry Book Cover (via WV Public)
