Why read a poem? It can tell the truth slant with “superb surprise” and dazzle us, gradually or with swift and sudden force, into insight and action.
Don Paterson: Poet of Light and Dark in Life and in Ourselves
Don Paterson is an important voice in British poetry and letters. He writes of both the light and the dark in life and in ourselves.
Poets and Poems: Frank Stanford and “The Light the Dead See”
Frank Stanford (1948-1978) embodied William Wordsworth’s “The Child is father of the Man” in both his life and his poetry.
Poets and Poems: Mohja Kahf and “Hagar Poems”
In “Hagar Poems, ” poet Mohja Kahf tells and retells the biblical story of Hagar, Abraham, and Sarah, weaving threads between ancient and contemporary times.
Random Sample: A Wrap-Up of Random Acts of Poetry Day
Our celebration of Random Acts of Poetry Day was full of random poetic expressions popping up everywhere from cupcakes to the courthouse.
It’s Random Acts of Poetry Day!
It’s Random Acts of Poetry Day, a day devoted to painting poetry in the public square. Share some poetry with your world (and make it better).
Chaucer and The First Great English Poem
“The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer wasn’t the first poem in English, but it was the one to mark English becoming the official language of Britain.
Help Us Celebrate National Poetry Day on Oct. 6!
Tweetspeak Poetry is collaborating with Britain’s Forward Arts Foundation to help celebrate National Poetry Day UK on Oct. 6.
Poets and Poems: Leon Stokesbury and “You Are Here”
“You Are Here” by Leon Stokesbury combines new poems and previously published poems to provide insight, emotion, and even humor.
Poetic Voices: Stephanie Rogers and Katie Manning
New collections by poets Stephanie Rogers and Katie Manning are infused with a sense of loss, displacement, and a grittiness that fits their subjects.
O Me, O, Miami: Expanding the Literary Culture of a Region One Poem at a Time
What if you had a goal for every person in your city to encounter a poem all in one month. Where would you start? O, Miami Poetry Festival, for one.
Coney Island: Hot Dogs, Ferris Wheels – and Poetry?
Parachute Literary Arts hosts poetry festivals, libraries, and events at the iconic American amusement park, Coney Island.
Journey into Poetry: Mark Osler
For Mark Osler, life is not as much about being a poet as it is about having the language and structure that poetry offers.
More than a Broken Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen
Songwriter Leonard Cohen is also a poet, and in “Songs and Poems, ” he mixes song lyrics with poetry, suggesting there’s little difference.
Top 10 Best Science Poems
Is it possible that without science there might be no poetry? Or could the opposite be true? Test the hypothesis with 10 best science poems.
A Mistake Becomes a Discovery: John Holmes
A wrong shipment by Amazon turned into a discovery of poet John Holmes (1904-1962), who wrote his own poetry and encouraged other poets.
Top 10 Best Tea Poems
Tea and poetry go together like sand and surf, like wine and cheese, like Bogey and Bacall. Or is it the other way around? Enjoy these 10 best tea poems…
Reading ‘Spoon River Anthology’ for the Third Time
“Spoon River Anthology” is one of the great works of American literature, and reading it a third time yields new insights.
The Secret of Literature: Everyday Epiphanies
Marjorie Maddox’s love affair with literature is life-long. “The epiphanies both of youth and old age sprout more often … from something we’ve read.”
Finding Edna and Winifred in the Antique Shop
For 75 cents, Glynn Young purchases a book of poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay and considers both the poet and the woman who wrote her name on the inside cover.