Indianapolis’ own Alyssa Gaines is the 2022 National Youth Poet Laureate. After performing her poem Lágrimas Negras, a piece which blends song and spoken word to provide a powerful commentary on the beauty of communal pain and healing, Gaines was given the top honor out of a group of four finalists and 65 high school poets across the country. Read more
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A miniature book made by the 13-year-old Charlotte Brontë, to go on sale next month for $1.25 million, contains what may be her last unknown poems. Read more
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Brad Leithauser Considers the Comedy of Verse. Read more
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Exciting news for high school writers: Amanda Gorman and Penguin Random House have teamed up to launch the Amanda Gorman Award for Poetry. The award will recognize a senior from a public high school for an original poem, and the winner will receive $10,000. The Amanda Gorman Award for Poetry is one of five creative writing awards given by Penguin Random House, whose categories include fiction/drama, personal essay/memoir, and spoken word; current high school seniors who attend U.S. public schools and plan on continuing their education in fall 2022 are encouraged to apply. As of this year, the Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards have awarded over $2.8 million to public high school students for their original writing. Read more
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Speculative poetry is a hybrid creature that combines elements of poetry and prose, in addition to blurring the line between realism and fabulism, giving it a unique approach that no other medium can replicate. Read more
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…dictators sense the danger of poetry, which is why poets in their regimes are routinely imprisoned, tortured, killed or forced into exile. Read more
Huynh, an incoming first-year student at Stanford University, was raised by Vietnamese American immigrant parents in Sacramento — an experience that played a significant role in her poetry and her mission to connect cultures and work toward justice. Read more
Rahele Megosha, a high school senior from South Dakota, has been named the 2021 Poetry Out Loud national champion. The competition invites high school students to memorize and recite great poetry, both classic and modern. Read more
Gordon McCulloch’s 101 Poems becomes a hit on Amazon after his granddaughter asked her followers to take a look at the book. A self-published poetry anthology by a 92-year-old Scottish grandfather was outselling Amanda Gorman and Rupi Kaur on Amazon in the UK last week, after his granddaughter appealed to readers for reviews. Read more
Boone, a former cultural commissioner for Chicago, will take the helm after tumult over racial justice at the foundation, one of the country’s wealthiest literary organizations. Read more
