Each 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.)
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This 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 …
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Poetry is evocative, ethereal, emotional, transportive, but right now, poetry for me is a traffic jam on Florida’s Route 1.
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Read 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 …
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On April 25th, 2018, The Boston Globe discussed Poetry in America in its “TV Critics Corner.” In the article are topics including the state of poetry (Rupi Kaur, the dream frontier, dismissive college freshmen), the case (for poetry) made by the show, and the potential downside to listening to Allen Ginsberg’s “Hum Bom” at excessive volume.
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On 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.
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On November 8th, 2018, Poetry in America host Professor Elisa New was interviewed on Montana Public Radio discussing the mission of the show and the state of the poetry.
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On April 13th, 2018, Tablet Magazine published an essay in its Arts and Letters section on Poetry in America’s first season. Describing the show as ‘infectious,’ ‘too good to be true,’ and capable of inspiring viewers to ‘seek out more daring and unusual contemporary writing.’ The article also notes some of season 1’s highlights: Regina Spektor’s personal take on ‘The New Colossus’, New’s intro to the Ginsberg episode, and the natural conversational style from which stunning insights seem to ‘spontaneously erupt at climactic points.’
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On August 20th, 2018, The Atlantic featured Poetry in America in an article on the improving fortunes of Poetry in popular culture following an NEA study, showing a significant increase in the readership of Poetry (including a two-fold rise for those 18-24). The article attributed this uptick to the interchange between poetry and other mediums (in the case of Poetry in America documentary filmmaking).
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