When poet Dinah Berland finished her time as writer-in-residence at the Annenberg Beach House, there was a demand from her students for the workshops she hosted as part of her residency to continue, and since then, the Camera Obscura Art Lab has begun hosting 6 week long poetry workshops led by Berland. On Saturday, August…Read more Poetry in Paradise: Poet Dinah Berland Holds Popular Workshop at Camera Obscura (via Santa Monica Mirror)

I predict this will be my least read column of the year because I am going to write about poetry. It is both distressing and strange that so many people are put off by poetry, given that so many of our first experiences with language is with poetry — not only with children's books like…Read more ‘Why Poetry?’ It’s like asking, ‘why pleasure?’ (via Chicago Tribune)

The American poet Layli Long Soldier’s debut collection, “Whereas,” is in part a response to the Congressional resolution of apology to Native Americans, which President Obama signed in obscurity in 2009. There were no Native Americans present to receive the apology, as most never knew an apology was made. In an introduction to the title…Read more A Native American Poet Excavates the Language of Occupation (via NY Times)