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David Orr David Orr, who writes about poetry for NPR Books, is the author of Beautiful & Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry.

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David Orr

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Monday April 29, 2013

From Dissections To Depositions, Poets' Second Jobs

Monica Youn, who joined NPR as a NewsPoet last year, works as a lawyer. She says that poetry appears in law more often than you might think — but nobody calls it poetry. Doriane Raiman/NPR hide caption

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Doriane Raiman/NPR

Poetry

From Dissections To Depositions, Poets' Second Jobs

April 29, 2013 • Great poetry almost never leads to great paychecks. Even award-winning poets need to pay the bills. Many teach, but others are doctors, scientists, lawyers, undertakers or even market analysts. In celebration of National Poetry Month, writer David Orr takes a look at the secret lives of poets.

Monday July 23, 2012

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Poetry

It's A Genre! The Overdue Poetry Of Parenthood

July 23, 2012 • Love, death, marriage, divorce — poetry tends to focus on life's major moments. But that hasn't held true for birth and child rearing. Critic (and new dad) David Orr reflects on the reasons why, and on the women and men who are, at last, delivering the poetry of parenthood.

Friday April 20, 2012

Grief In Greenness: Two Melancholy Poems Of Spring

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Essays

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.

Thursday March 29, 2012

Adrienne Rich: Resolution Amid The 'Turbulence'

Poet Adrienne Rich, seen here in 2004, died Tuesday. Adam Rountree/AP Images hide caption

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Adam Rountree/AP Images

Opinion

Obituaries

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.

Monday February 13, 2012

Poetic Propositions: Verse And The Art of Seduction

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Opinion

Poetry

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.

Thursday February 2, 2012

Flush Poets Society: Donnelly's 'Cloud Corporation' Wins Six-Figure Prize

Timothy Donnelly's poetry has appeared in Harper's, the Paris Review and the New Republic. Claremont Graduate University hide caption

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Claremont Graduate University

Poetry

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.

Wislawa Szymborska, Poet Of Gentle Irony, Dies At 88

Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska in 1996, the same year she won the Nobel Prize in literature. Szymborska, who was born in 1923, died Wednesday in Krakow, Poland. Czarek Sokolowski/AP hide caption

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Czarek Sokolowski/AP

All Things Considered

Wislawa Szymborska, Poet Of Gentle Irony, Dies At 88

February 2, 2012 • The Polish poet, a Nobel Prize winner in 1996, died Wednesday in Krakow, Poland. Szymborska was an ironist who deployed whimsy and a light touch, even when exploring weighty themes. Critic David Orr praises her as a writer of "dry-eyed, athletic precision."

Wislawa Szymborska, Poet Of Gentle Irony, Dies At 88

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