The Art of Losing—Three Poems for the COVID-19 Pandemic
“The aspiration to mastery leaves room for a lot of anxiety. Many readers hear a kind of hysteria in the poem, with its rhythm revving up as it ruminates …
Read More“The aspiration to mastery leaves room for a lot of anxiety. Many readers hear a kind of hysteria in the poem, with its rhythm revving up as it ruminates …
Read MoreEach year, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers select five of the best and brightest high school poets in the country to serve as youth poetry ambassadors. Poetry In America has been proud to feature the distinguished members of this prestigious program as guest interpreters in our previous seasons. (You can see the National Student Poets of 2016 and 2018 in our “Carl Sandburg – Skyscraper” and “Walt Whitman – Leaves of Grass” episodes.)
Read MoreThis summer, Poetry in America teamed up with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and Wide Open School to offer the Whatever It Takes to Speak Your Mind Challenge. The challenge …
Read MorePoetry is evocative, ethereal, emotional, transportive, but right now, poetry for me is a traffic jam on Florida’s Route 1.
Read MoreRead below to hear from our Communications Intern Gideon Leek, a senior at Oberlin College. Gideon, an English and Politics major, has been the voice behind many of Poetry …
Read MorePoetry in America is coming to DVD! Featuring every episode of season 2, explore and debate 8 classic and contemporary American poems with a wide variety of guests, and rich archival materials.
Read MoreOn July 10, 2020, Poetry in America was featured in The Paris Review’s weekly round-up of staff picks. Alongside the work of novelists Marie NDiaye and Halle Butler, essayist Moyra Davey, and jazz label Pi Recordings, The Paris Review staff spotlights Poetry in America’s season 2 episode on Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem “You and I Are Disappearing.”
Read MoreOn June 12th, 2020, Forbes wrote about Poetry in America Live event hosted by the Sheen Center, a continuation of the Finishing the Hat episode, and showcased the series more generally. The article highlights the work of the Sheen Center, the accomplishments of the live event’s guests (singer & actor Melissa Errico, musical director Tedd Firth, and writer Adam Gopnik), the vitality of the series, and the specific contents of the live event.
Read MoreOn June 12th, 2020, the Sheen Center presented Poetry in America Live “Finishing the Hat” as part of the celebration of Sondheim’s 90th. The most recent event in an ongoing series, this live event involved performance and discussion of lyrics from “Sunday in the Park with George.”
The event featured several guests from the Season 2 episode on the song but was by no means a rehash of well-worn terrain. The live format both expanding the time available for discussion and narrowed in the conversation to fewer guests, creating a discrete and complementary experience.
Read MoreOn June 11th, 2020, The New York Times featured Poetry in America’s live ‘Finishing the Hat’ event on their listing of livestreams to watch. They noted the live events mixture of discussion and performance as well as the variety and quality of guests.
Read MoreOn May 30th, 2020, Psychology Today featured a blog post on Langston Hughes’s poem “Harlem” and the current protests, referencing (and encouraging readers to watch) our Season 1 episode on the poem. How do we deal with suffering? Can poetry provide us comfort? Can it help us move forward?
Read MoreOn May 29th, 2020, LitHub featured Poetry in America’s tie-in Whitman crossword puzzle. PIA guest (and author, poet & puzzler) Adrienne Raphel’s promotional Whitman crossword was discussed with consideration to Poetry in America’s balancing act between its broader appeals and desire to attract poetry nerds.
Read MoreSeason 2 of Poetry in America concludes with an ensemble cast–the largest of any Poetry in America episode–reading Walt Whitman, that most mythically capacious of American poets. The episode …
Read MoreOn May 20th, 2020, Pitchfork announced Nas’ second appearance on Poetry in America and shared two clips of him discussing Whitman’s enduring influence on the American Canon.
Read MoreOn May 5th, 2020, Playbill featured Poetry in America’s episode on Sondheim’s “Finishing The Hat” from Sunday in the Park with George in their film and tv news. The article discusses both the aim of the show (to analyze how Sondheim works at the intersection of lyric and sound) and the very real Broadway creds of the guests.
Read MoreOn April, 24th 2020, WBUR interviewed journalist Katie Couric about her appearance on Poetry in America. Couric discussed the pertinence of Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” to her own life, to our current moment, and all people dealing with grief.
Read MoreOn April 22, 2020, Big Think President Peter Hopkin’s moderated a live YouTube discussion with PIA Host Professor Elisa New.
Read MoreOn April 10th, 2020, The Washington Post Book Club Newsletter, in its series of reviews and recommendations from critic Ron Charles featured Poetry in America. The article notes the great variety of guests on the show, the close readings of individual poems, and the accompanying educational materials.
Read MoreOn February 13th, 2020, Broadway World wrote an article announcing the airing of Season 2 of Poetry in America. The piece highlights how the show promotes the universal appeal …
Read More