Poetry

Last week was the 10th annual finals of Louder than a Bomb (LTAB), the Chicago Teen Poetry Festival. Across the country, thousands of young poets, emcees, and storytellers are using their words as weapons for transformation and social change.read more

Andrea Gibson is an award-winning poet and activist from Denver, CO. An outspoken artist for queer rights, here Gibson offers her personal, poignant response to the too-often-impersonal debate on gay marriage. As the federal trial on Proposition 8 continues, and President Obama calls for an end to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Gibson reminds us of the human consequences of legalized discrimination -- and the reason why she continues to fight.

My guest this week is Alix Olson, the spoken word artist and queer activist.

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My guest today is the poet and labor activist Mark Nowak, who is the author of an amazing new book called Coal Mountain Elementary.

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My guest this week is the poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, who talks about his time in prison and the redemptive nature of poetry.

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I rise to defend Elizabeth Alexander’s inaugural poem.

Members of the vanguard of modern poetry have thrown their barbs, labeling it “perfunctory” and “bureaucratic” and full of cliches.read more

My guest this week is the poet Patricia Smith, whose latest work, "Blood Dazzler," has been nominated for a National Book Award.

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An interview with the great poet Martín Espada, author of The Republic of Poetry, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

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"Houses get murdered just as their
residents get murdered. . . . And the plates, spoons, toys, records, faucets, pipes, door handles, and
 the fridge, the washer, the vases, jars of olives and pickles, and canned foods, all
break as their owners broke."read more

My guest this week is the great poet Martín Espada, author most recently of The Republic of Poetry, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

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