Carmen Gimenez Smith visits NPR headquarters in Washington on Monday.
NewsPoet: Carmen Gimenez Smith's Day In Verse
()Each month, NPR's All Things Considered invites a poet into the newsroom to see how the show comes together and to write an original poem about the news. This month, our NewsPoet is Carmen Gimenez Smith. Want to write your own poem about the day's news? You can put them in the comments below.
Press-Play Poetry: 'Failing And Flying'()
April 24, 2012 "Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew." So begins Jack Gilbert's lyrical "Failing and Flying." The poem is the first in a new multimedia series, Press-Play Poetry, which celebrates the power of the voice to bring lines on a page to life.
Grief In Greenness: Two Melancholy Poems Of Spring()
April 20, 2012 Some of the best poets of spring are masters of the minor key. So it's no surprise that the famously dour Philip Larkin wrote two of the finest spring poems of the last century, according to critic David Orr — who offers his appreciation.
Ode To Poetry Month: A Match Game()
April 17, 2012 We asked some NPR personalities to tell us what poems they might recite to a friend during Poetry Month.
A Poem Store Open For Business, In The Open Air()
April 17, 2012 Zach Houston makes a living on the streets of San Francisco by composing poems on a manual typewriter. Give him a topic, and he'll pound out a poem in a matter of minutes — hopefully for a donation that will help him stay in business.
Poet Marie Howe Reflects On The 'Living' After Loss()
April 13, 2012 "Poetry holds the knowledge that we are alive and that we know we're going to die," poet Marie Howe tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. One of Howe's most famous poems, "What the Living Do," was recently included in The Penguin Anthology of 20th-Century American Poetry.
Books News & Features
Simple Tweets Of Fate: Teju Cole's Condensed News()
April 9, 2012 Every day, Nigerian-American novelist Teju Cole skims newspapers from present-day Nigeria and 1912's New York City. He turns the odd news of the day into the ironic, illuminating Tweets he calls "Small Fates."
The Beauty And Difficulty Of Poet Nikky Finney()
April 8, 2012 "Art is about being provocative," says the award-winning poet. "Art is also about beauty and if you leave the latter out, the former doesn't matter."
Storify: Muses And Metaphor()
April 3, 2012 Poetry and social media join forces in April, as Tell Me More celebrates National Poetry Month with the Muses and Metaphor series. Here are some of our favorite poetic tweets curated from #tmmpoetry.
Muses And Metaphor 2012: Tweet Us Your Poetry!()
April 2, 2012 Poetry meets social media in Tell Me More's annual celebration of National Poetry Month. Throughout April we'll feature poems exchanged via Twitter by NPR fans — always in 140 characters or fewer.
NewsPoet: Kevin Young Writes The Day In Verse()
March 30, 2012 Each month, NPR's All Things Considered invites a poet into the newsroom to see how the show comes together and to write an original poem about the news. This month our NewsPoet is Kevin Young. Want to write your own poem about the day's news? You can put them in the comments below.
Remembrances
Adrienne Rich: Resolution Amid The 'Turbulence'()
March 29, 2012 The memorials for poet Adrienne Rich, who died Tuesday, include plenty of references to her political activism and eventful personal life. Amid this, Critic David Orr pauses to reflect on one poem — a testament to her perseverance and her art.
A St. Patrick's Poem On Shamrocks And Stereotypes()
March 17, 2012 Poet and Irish expatriate Frank Delaney has enjoyed success as a BBC host, Man Booker Prize judge and author of the best-selling novel, Ireland. To honor St. Patrick's Day, Delaney shares with Weekend Edition his original poem, Drowning the Shamrock.
NewsPoet: Craig M. Teicher Writes The Day In Verse()
February 24, 2012 Each month, NPR's All Things Considered invites a poet into the newsroom to see how the show comes together and to write an original poem about the news. This month our NewsPoet is Craig Morgan Teicher. Want to write your own poem about the days news? You can put them in the comments below.
Author Interviews
Liu Xiaobo: 'No Enemies, No Hatred,' Only Courage()
February 16, 2012 The Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo may be imprisoned, but his voice will not be silenced. His recent writings and poems have been collected in No Enemies, No Hatred.
Book Reviews
Hell's Music: A 'Guide For Boys' With Adult Themes()
February 16, 2012 D.A. Powell's poems in Useless Landscape, or A Guide for Boys subvert Boy Scout imagery with cheekiness, and take on desire, salvation and HIV with courage. This is a book that looks death in the eye — and winks.
Poetic Propositions: Verse And The Art of Seduction()
February 13, 2012 Valentine's Day is a tricky occasion for poets. Granted, it's hard not to be happy about a holiday on which poems are thought to be genuinely useful. But love poetry's record as an aphrodisiac is mixed. Critic David Orr offers advice for romantic rhymers.
Donald Hall: A Poet's View 'Out The Window'()
February 8, 2012 The 83-year-old former poet laureate reflects on how life has changed as he's grown older. "My body causes me trouble when I cross the room, but when I am sitting down writing, I am in my heaven — my old heaven," he says.
Krulwich Wonders...
Two Deaths: A Poet And A Beetle()
February 5, 2012 Poet Wislawa Szymborska had an eye for the smallest, the gentlest, the hard-to-notice creatures on Earth and this week she bid them all adieu. Krulwich remembers Wislawa Szymborska.
Monkey See
Flush Poets Society: Donnelly's 'Cloud Corporation' Wins Six-Figure Prize()
February 2, 2012 Robert Graves once said, "There's no money in poetry." But Brooklyn-based poet Timothy Donnelly might disagree.
