Roses are red, violets are blue, Ohio lacks a poet laureate but might have one soon. The Ohio Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 84, which creates the position, on Wednesday. The bill now goes to the House for debate. Bill sponsor Sen. Eric Kearney, a Cincinnati Democrat, said 44 states have poet laureates. Ohio's poet … Continue reading Ohio could get its own bard to promote poetry statewide (via Cleveland)
Excerpt below. "If you talk to people who work in alternative education, there's across the board understanding that you have to work with the whole person," Pierce said. "It's not about saving kids. It's about working together to evolve." Pierce's vision is to build a true alternative program for students at CALC, not just a … Continue reading Jessica Pierce: CALC Slam Poetry (via Oregonian)
Well, this has certainly piqued our interest! Button Poetry is partnering with Poetry Observed to release a series of HD performance poetry videos from some of this nation's most talented writers and performers. Stay tuned for the first video June 8th! Click here for more information. Links: Button Poetry | Button Poetry's YouTube … Continue reading Button Poetry: Poetry Observed Trailer (Coming June 8th)
Check it out! You can also purchase this track. About J Poetic J Poetic is a Portland born and raised MC, beat maker, and spoken word artist. Wanting to make the listener think, he blends metaphor, theology, and philosophy through passionate lyricism and wordplay. His sound is unique in that it unifies different genres such … Continue reading J Poetic Releases Psalm 151
In a fleeting series of words, poetry can take readers from wry chuckles to sighs of regret, tears of joy to pangs of longing. The power of poetry — not just for poetry lovers, but for all audiences — is a message new Washington state poet laureate Elizabeth Austen hopes to share with people throughout … Continue reading Poet Laureate Elizabeth Austen wants you to rethink poetry (via Seattle Times)
Yale University has received a $5 million gift from Frederick Iseman, the founder and chief executive of CI Capital Partners, a private equity firm, to be used partly to endow the school’s first chair in poetry and partly to extend a program that gives Yale students free access to the Metropolitan Opera’s HD broadcasts as … Continue reading $5 Million to Endow Yale Poetry Chair (via NYTimes)
The word novel carries for me a weight as ominous, all-consuming and unforgiving as any Job encountered. I was 17 when I decided to write stories as big as cathedrals, overflowing with the kind of memorable and audacious characters Walker Percy, Ernest Hemingway and Saul Bellow created. I stayed up all night, writing description, dialogue, … Continue reading Poet vs. Novelist (via NYTimes)
The 20th annual West Chester University Poetry Conference will be held next week, bringing a schedule of events to the school that are free and open to the public. The gathering, running from June 4 through June 7, is the nation's largest all-poetry writing conference. Natasha Tretheway, now serving her second term as U.S. Poet … Continue reading Poetry conference set for WCU (via Philly.com)
REST IN PEACE MAYA ANGELOU (1928-2014) A literary voice revered globally for her poetic command and her commitment to civil rights has fallen silent. Maya Angelou died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Wednesday, said her literary agent, Helen Brann. The 86-year-old was a novelist, actress, professor, singer, dancer and activist. In 2010, … Continue reading Legendary author Maya Angelou dies at age 86 (via CNN)
Late in 1987, two young poets made the trek to New York to attend the funeral of James Baldwin at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Deeply moved by the ceremony, yet distressed that they had never met an African-American literary lion of Mr. Baldwin’s stature, the poets, Thomas Sayers Ellis and Sharan … Continue reading The Dark Room Collective: Where Black Poetry Took Wing (via NYTimes)
