There’s a misconception that cowboy poetry is a dying art form, but some 150 years later, the movement is experiencing a revival. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
Category: Poetry
Dial-A-Poem, a Very Analog Project of the ’60s, Goes Global
As interactive, technology-based artworks go, Dial-A-Poem is closer to Alexander Graham Bell than it is to ChatGPT. The brainchild of the artist and poet John Giorno (1936-2019), the project officially kicked off in early 1969, with six jury-rigged phones and answering machines housed at the Architectural League of New York, all connected to the same phone number and each set up with an audiotape that would play once a call came in. Anyone could call the 212 number and hear a randomly assigned poem — though sometimes the recording was a piece of music, a song or a speech — usually introduced by Giorno himself and then read aloud by writers and other cultural luminaries like John Ashbery, William S. Burroughs and Anne Waldman. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
RFK Jr. Said Autistic Children Will Never Write a Poem. He Ignores the Rich History of Neurodivergent Poets and Writers.
There’s a remarkable corpus of poetry written by autistic people, who have also written novels, plays and virtually any kind of literature imaginable. The Autism Books by Autistic Authors Project catalogs 133 collections of poetry authored by autistic individuals, which represents only a fraction of the work created by autistic poets throughout history. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
A New Translation Breathes Fresh Life Into Baudelaire
A new dual-language translation of Charles Baudelaire’s The Flowers of Evil offers English readers the best way of appreciating the poet who helped invent modernity. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
The Best American Poetry of the 21st Century (So Far)
No list can be comprehensive or infallible, but we did not approach this one lightly. After considering various criteria, we landed on work that felt consequential. We were looking for poetry that had struck its readers, for whatever reasons, as unforgettable, enduring, and influential: maybe because it came as an unexpected gift from a friend or loved one, or in the form of a classroom discovery; maybe because it reframed the world in such a way that culture or society felt foundationally shaken. Maybe it was just because, to paraphrase Emily Dickinson, it takes the top of your head off. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
Ukrainian Poet and Rock Star Fights Near Front and Performs Behind It
Serhiy Zhadan, 50, is a beloved Ukrainian poet as well as a novelist, lyricist and rock star. Furious over the invasion, he enlisted to fight even as his band still plays and his readings fill halls. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
Jamaican Poet Jason Allen-Paisant’s ‘Self-Portrait as Othello’ Wins TS Eliot Prize
In Self-Portrait As Othello, Allen-Paisant draws a connection between Shakespeare’s Othello, a Moorish general who is often treated as an outsider in Venice, and the experiences of Black immigrants today. His poems move between Jamaica, Prague, Paris and Oxford among other places, and he weaves in lines of French, Jamaican patois, Italian and German. Read more
Nikki Giovanni Documentary Released
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, an HBO Original Documentary featuring the voice of Taraji P. Henson, follows the legendary poet, activist, and educator’s ascendance and impact on American culture. Watch trailer
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
How Cave Canem Has Nurtured Generations of Black Poets
The poets’ fellowship, which was founded in 1996, has worked with poets who have gone on to win many of the genre’s most important accolades. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
As Divisions Deepen in India, a 15th-Century Poet Inspires Hope
As hostility toward minorities rises, Kabir’s work highlights the subcontinent’s rich history of religious coexistence, and many academics, artists, and activists are using his words to express pride in India’s multicultural community. Read more
(We earn a small commission if you click above and buy the book at Bookshop.org)
