poetry

The Dartmouth College Turing test competition challenged participants to design a computer program that could write poems indistinguishable from human-written sonnets.

Human Or Machine: Can You Tell Who Wrote These Poems?

6:30pm June 27, 2016

by NPR Staff

Can a computer write a sonnet that's indistinguishable from what a person can produce? A contest at Dartmouth attempted to find out. With our online quiz, you too can give it a try.

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"If you can write this out and give it to society," Jimmy Santiago Baca told NPR last month, "it's going to allow them to take the blinders off and see what's really going on with you in your life."

Arts

Out Of Juvenile Corrections, Poems Of Fury, Loss — And Lingering Beauty

6:36pm May 28, 2016

by Colin Dwyer

Over 1,000 students submitted their work for Words Unlocked, a poetry contest for juveniles in corrections. Two young poets split the top prize — and they've shared their poems with NPR.

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Arts

A Glimpse Of Listeners' #NPRpoetry — From The Punny To The Profound

5:06pm May 01, 2016

It was a simple idea: Would you, our listeners, tweet us poems for National Poetry Month? Your response contained multitudes — haiku, lyrics, even one 8-year-old's ode to her dad's bald spot.

Most of the poets who submitted to the Words Unlocked contest are between the ages of 14 to 18.

Arts

Poetry Behind Bars: The Lines That Save Lives — Sometimes Literally

11:22am May 01, 2016

by Colin Dwyer

Words Unlocked, a poetry contest for juveniles in corrections, has drawn more than 1,000 entries. Its judge, Jimmy Santiago Baca, says it was a poetry book that helped him survive his own prison term.

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Viet Cong soldiers going into battle near Hue during the Vietnam War, circa 1968. Years later, the war shaped how Ocean Vuong grew up.

Books
Arts

In The Lines Of Ocean Vuong, Echoes Of His Family's Past In Vietnam

9:01am April 25, 2016

by NPR Staff

Award-winning poet Ocean Vuong speaks about his new book Night Sky with Exit Wounds, which weaves growing up in America with his family's memories of a war-torn Vietnam.

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Acclaimed poet Maya Angelou knew how to appreciate a great steak.

Arts

In Honor Of #NationalPoetryMonth: Your Favorite Poems About Food And Farming

2:13pm April 24, 2016

by Maanvi Singh

Gastronomy and poetry are a natural pairing. After all, both provide necessary nourishment. We asked you to share your favorite selections about farming and food and gathered them up here.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the German federal Chancellery on February 4 in Berlin.

World News

There Once Was A Turkish PM ... British Magazine Invites Erdogan-Mocking Limericks

10:59am April 19, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

Germany recently agreed, at Turkey's request, to investigate a comedian who mocked the Turkish prime minister. A journalist in the U.K. is responding in filthy mocking rhyme — and wants your help.

WATCH: Marbles Fight To The Bitter End For Victory

2:28pm April 13, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

Take a break from the news for a totally compelling, entirely gravity-driven race that captured hearts and minds on the Internet this week. Plus: literary parodies, because this is NPR.

Books
Arts

#NationalPoetryMonth: Verses That Celebrate Life On The Farm

3:02pm April 12, 2016

by Maria Godoy

Poet Tess Taylor's new book, Work & Days, is a lyrical meditation on food and farming and our "fragile and ultimately, necessary relationship we have with the earth." Download her illustrated poems.

Books
Arts

How To Get Kids Hooked On Books? 'Use Poetry. It Is A Surefire Way'

7:06pm April 03, 2016

by NPR Staff

Newbery Medal-winning author Kwame Alexander's new effort is a novel about a 12-year-old boy named Nick, written in verse. He says poetry is one key to keeping kids invested in what they're reading.

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