The mythology of the vast “untouched” frontier has inspired American authors from James Fenimore Cooper to Thomas Pynchon. But, the natural world explored in the poetry of the early 20th century American poet Robinson Jeffers is not one of heroism or horses. Gillian Osborne – Instructor and Curriculum Designer for Poetry in America, Director of Curriculum at ASU’s Center for Public Humanities, and scholar of 19th century American and environmental literature – compares Jeffers’s reverence for American nature, and his Californian “cultural nationalism,” to famous American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau’s relationship with the natural world in the century before. … Read more
Richard Blanco is a poet who, when reflecting on his past, displays both his inimitable uniqueness and the universality of his experiences. … Read more
Eighth grade, a turning point in adolescence, is a great time to be introduced to contemporary poetry. Reading poetry can feel daunting for newcomers, but at Poetry in America, we work to present poetry not as academic and aloof, but real and relatable—an art form that is great fun, and that instigates growth of the mind. … Read more
Three years ago, Poetry in America launched an online channel with the science magazine Nautilus, dedicated to bringing together science and poetry. This summer, as Poetry in America’s educational programs settle into their new home base at Arizona State University’s Center for Public Humanities, the Nautilus channel is once again breaking new ground. … Read more
May 2022 marked the graduation of the first class of Poetry in America, 1850-1945. … Read more
This summer, in collaboration with Arizona State University’s Center for the Public Humanities, Poetry in America is launching a summer intensive workshop for high school students in India. … Read more
This summer, Arizona State University’s Center for Public Humanities collaborated with ASU Prep Digital to present an environmental poetry intensive for Middle and High School educators! … Read more
Filming for Season Four continued this April in and around Austin, Texas. We filmed several Texas natives on Tracy K. Smith’s “Hill Country,” a poem that journeys through the complicated linkage between biblical text and the geography of “Jesus country.” What has been lost in translation (and gained in misprision) between ancient text and modern life? … Read more
On April 13th, 2022, Arizona PBS presented a celebration of National Poetry Month, spotlighting the Arizona State University faculty who appeared in our third season. … Read more
