News Archive

"The greatest poet to emerge from the African continent of the twentieth century."

The book that launched a thousand arguments: more on Bishop.

Teenage Rwandan refugee is star slam poet.

Grolier's new owner won't go broke, he has a day job.

Poet writes divorce poems, wins Pulitzer.

Was Shakespeare a rotten husband?

Marvin Bell opens the International Camouflage Conference, at which attendees concentrate on the idea of disappearing.

Nicole Brossard wins $50,000 Molson prize.

Princeton acquires Hudson Review archives.

“It’s been a long time since I found it necessary to pay attention to a poetry movement. Now, I will.”—Bruce Sterling, from his Wired blog.

Jack Gilbert interviewed on NPR.

More Poetry Out Loud: Contestant’s friends ask, “you’re into poetry, dude?”

Poetry Out Loud: Contestant recites poem in front of mirror all week.

“Who gives her sixth-grade daughter Sartre’s Nausea to read?”—Mary Karr

Lost Samuel Beckett manuscript found.

Seventh grader writing tons of poems.

“A closed system smothering in its claustrophobic isolation.”—Amir Taheri on early Arab poetry

Now we know what John Donne looked like.

Nineteen Blake watercolors auctioned off. Titles include Death of the Strong Wicked Man.

Alive and kicking after 30 years of publishing poetry.

NY Times readers debate Paglia’s Break, Blow, Burn.

“Win it for couples in seedy motels.” World Cup poem released.

Pennsylvania anthology features the “obligatory coal poem.”

British poet teaches Kansas convicts.

History of lost books turns up apocryphal Eliot essay.

Poetry Out Loud: “I did a haiku about produce one time. That’s because I work at the grocery store.”

Poetry Out Loud: "Poetry can't cook dinner for you.”

Patients healed by poetry and “comfy surroundings.”

French Book Art at the New York Public Library.

T.S. Eliot invoked in Moussaoui sentencing.

Nigerian poet-soldiers.

Teen’s poem about being busted without a hall pass stirs up trouble.

“The Ballad of the Beantowne Bosox.”

Tess Gallagher on poems written in the shadow of death.

Heaney visits Kentucky, gets honorary degree.

New poetry from two Brits, one sentimental, one bright and scattered.

Famous Senegalese poet celebrated. Audience member wonders who he was, exactly.

“Form isn’t a straitjacket; it’s how the poet constructs his effects.” Cynthia Haven on a new Cavafy translation.

Poems for old and new husbands: Pulitzer prize winner Claudia Emerson interviewed on News Hour.

Thirteen ways of looking at ESPN’s Chris Berman.

“A playful nostalgia promising a fresh start.” Alan Gilbert on Joshua Clover

Poetry Out Loud: “Poetry used to be boring to a lot of people.”

Jerusalem neighborhoods invaded by poetry.

Playing Ezra Pound in Los Angeles.

Students vs. administration over a poem about hall passes.

Poem nets Chechen schoolgirl an apartment and 10K.

David Lehman on the great American poem.

The '70s, when you could give a poetry reading with a bag on your head.

Robert S. Sargent, poet and weapons specialist, dies.

More on “An Episode of Pure Defiance.”

Poetry/Rap club gets high schoolers to sign up for something.

Making poetry by throwing apples down stairs.

Hip-hop poet Saul Williams teams up with rocker Trent Reznor to make something “more beautiful than hard.”

A poet of “unperturbed worldliness.”—David Kaufmann on Samuel Menashe

Poem entitled “Lusting Chaos” torn out of student lit journal.

89-year-old has more than 1000 poems.

In Louisiana: state poem takes place alongside state dog, state fish, state amphibian.

In Yemen, anti-terrorist poetry is all the rage.

Fence magazine on the poker circuit.

Exploring Emily Dickinson’s stomping grounds.

Maya Angelou praises Texans for help after Katrina.

Poet laureate needed to write inspirational words.

“The empty promises of consumer bliss.”—Langdon Hammer on Franz Wright

As he sits in prison, Hussein says “I’ve had time to become a poet.”

Egyptian poet Ahmed Fouad Negm profiled, claims dead tortoise as his muse.

Pulitzer Prize winner Stanley Kunitz dies at 100. Here are two poems.

Stanley Kunitz was “a guiding spirit to several generations of poets.”—Elaine Woo, LA Times

Prominent Kuwaiti poet Abdullah Zakariya Al-Ansari dies.

Auden and Christianity: spirit, flesh, and everything in between.

New Eliot letters see the light.

Stanley Kunitz, former U.S. poet laureate, dies at 100. For links to obituaries, a podcast, as well as poems and essays by Kunitz, click here.

Rumi translator Coleman Barks honored in Tehran. “Rumi has given Americans a way to love Islam.”

Poetry Out Loud finals in Washington, DC.

Peter Viereck, noted conservative and author of Terror and Decorum, dies.

“Meaning is never private. He never shows off.” —Ernest Hilbert on Billy Collins

Prince Charles: “I’ll tell you who’s wonderful is that chap Leonard Cohen.”

Poetry and “the complex beauty of Chinese characters.”

In cyberspace poetry spreads like weeds.

More on Grolier’s new owner. It’s believed the store’s shelves hold 15,000 poetry volumes.

Novelist, poet, essayist Gilbert Sorrentino dies at 77. He once wrote “Art cannot rescue anyone from anything.”

Children’s poetry roundup.

Poetry as a way of coming to terms with a sick son.

Student paper on William Carlos Williams could’ve ruined lives. Computer comes to the rescue.

Poet Mei-mei Berssenbrugge and her turbulent house.

Poet with failing eyesight invents “seeing machine.”

Lambda literary awards announced.

Chinese poet sues communications company over calling cards.

Proposed official state Cajun poem accused of making culture “Disneylandish.”

Foundation created to honor Zulu poet.

More on “Howl” and its history.

“Poetry is the music in the lyrics, without the decibel-deafness.”

Britney Spears slams husband in verse.

Poetry Out Loud National Champion Jackson Hille interviewed on Weekend Edition.

Poetry Out Loud finals: American Idol meets Spellbound.

Taymor tames monster Grendel.

Britney Spears’ marriage poem: “How do you stand sleeping at night?”

He writes long, tumbling sequences that gather force like a dream landslide.—Joshua Clover on Kevin Davies

Naomi Wolf publishes memoir of her poet father.

More on the poet and the seeing machine.

Poet drinks too much, dies early, dresses like a gentleman.

Poetry Out Loud: Maine, Ohio, Oregon.

“Koethe summons the nuances that swim beneath the surface of bland diction in a way that recalls the layering of a film’s soundtrack.” Robert Hahn on John Koethe

Mayakovsky’s first book published 95 years ago.

Seamus Heaney refers to himself as “still a bit of an amateur.”

Alice Walker, early adopter of poetry.

Who would win? Thylias Moss vs. Paul Muldoon.

Literary friendship forms during manicure.

Who will win? Julianna Baggott vs. Robert Pinsky.

Children’s poet laureate of Wales youngest ever appointed.

Teen poet writes, sells song to aid blinded classmate.

Sculpture pays tribute to Chinese immigrants’ writing on the walls.