Nov 28 One poet’s advice for feeling at home in the unfamiliar By Jennifer Hijazi It is in our quiet observations, poet Jenny Xie says, that we can find ourselves when we’re on the move. Continue reading
Nov 22 This Thanksgiving, read a Native American poet’s song of healing By Lora Strum When Allison Adelle Hedge Coke wrote her poem “America, I Sing Back,” she considered each word a note in a larger song about the nation. “I thought about America singing. That’s why this poem is a song -- a voice… Continue reading
Nov 05 America’s poet laureate shares a poem for you to take to the polls By Jennifer Hijazi A new poetry collection invites readers to explore the diversity of American experiences in a different light. Continue reading
Nov 02 These wicked Day of the Dead poems don’t spare anyone By Lora Strum, Patty Gorena Morales A proposed border wall between the U.S. and Mexico is the product of “the underworld” in one calavera literaria written for the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos. Continue reading
Oct 22 A journalist’s death by a repressive government, remembered in verse By Lora Strum Marie Colvin "was killed in an attempt to silence her and others reporting from that place,” poet and friend Alan Jenkins said. Continue reading
Oct 18 Watch 3:33 Poet Phil Kaye remembers his grandfather and reimagines traditional masculinity By Steve Goldbloom Phil Kaye is a Japanese-American poet and filmmaker and co-director of “Project Voice,” an organization that partners with schools to bring poetry into the classroom. He shares one of his poems, “Surplus,” for a brief but spectacular take on his… Continue watching
Oct 17 In the wake of Hurricane Michael, this poet recognizes the way disaster can change you By Lora Strum Poet Heather Jacobsen can't forget how a hurricane shattered her neighborhood. Those indelible memories appear in her work "City Turned to Inland Lake."… Continue reading
Oct 10 A poet explains why ‘boys will be boys’ is the ‘stupidest’ thing you could say By Lora Strum A young boy pushes a girl off a swing because he likes her. “Boys will be boys,” a teacher explains. Years later, a boy drinks a bit too much and hits his girlfriend. The same words echo in the girl’s… Continue reading
Sep 24 For this poet, community, hair and self-worth are interwoven By Corinne Segal Raych Jackson spent countless nights of her childhood sitting on Chicago porches with her friends' hands in her hair -- feeling the intimacy of touch and the pain as they pulled tight, hearing the sounds of gossip flying around her. Continue reading
Aug 29 Remembering Tom Clark, renowned poet who rhapsodized about baseball By Jennifer Hijazi Prolific poet and biographer Tom Clark died this month at the age of 77, leaving behind a substantial body of writing that exemplifies his penchants for lyricism, wit, and brevity, as well as a lifelong love of baseball. Continue reading