Leonard Cohen's Poem 'Kanye West Is Not Picasso,' As Read By Michael Shannon
Cohen talks Kanye, in the voice of Michael Shannon. It's all pretty straightforward, no?
poetry
Poetry Is Making A Big Comeback In The U.S., Survey Results Reveal
The National Endowment for the Arts says that since its last survey period in 2012, the number of U.S. adults reading poetry had nearly doubled. And the agency says social media may be responsible.
Students Give Couplets A Try (And You Should Too!)
Scores of students submitted their poems about teamwork to an NPR callout. Here are a few of the highlights.
Write A Poem About Your Team, On Or Off The Court
NPR's Morning Edition wants to hear about the moments of teamwork in your life. Share a couplet about the team in your life and we will transform a few into one, big poem.
Filtering American History Through A 'Brown' Lens
Kevin Young's new book of poetry, Brown, is colored by memories from his family and childhood, U.S. history and black culture.
Asylum-Seeking Student Says Nothing Can Stand Between Him And Poetry
Allan Monga of Portland, Maine recently won the right to compete in the national Poetry Out Loud festival. He was initially barred because he's an asylum seeker and not a U.S. citizen.
Maine Asylum-Seeker Fights For His Right To Poetry
Allan Monga won Maine's Poetry Out Loud competition last month, but the NEA barred him from the national stage because of his immigration status. Now he's suing for his right to participate.
The Personal Is Always Political: A 2018 Poetry Preview
Many of the books of poems coming out this year are sad, but also powerful; full of poets processing their lives, looking into pains both personal and political through the cracked glass of poetry.
Kaveh Akbar Is Poetry's Biggest Cheerleader
Akbar, a poet himself, waves his pom poms for the form at DiveDapper, a site dedicated to in-depth interviews with his favorite poets. He says he wants to live his life "in joyful service" to poetry.
Jesmyn Ward, Frank Bidart, Masha Gessen And Robin Benway Win National Book Awards
For Ward, who won the fiction prize for Sing, Unburied, Sing, it was her second National Book Award. For Bidart, whose poetry collection spanned 51 years, it was akin to a lifetime achievement honor.