We keep you updated on the world of poetry with our news roundups.
Juan Felipe Herrera is a Mexican-American writer who, in 2015, became the first Chicano to be appointed Poet Laureate for the United States. Additionally he is an accomplished performer and cartoonist and has taught at a variety of higher education establishments in places such as Iowa and California. He was born on the 27th December 1948 in Fowler, California, the son of Hispanic immigrant ...
Josephine Jacobsen was a US, multi-award winning short-story writer, poet and critic. Her many honours included being made Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1971. In 1997 she was awarded the prestigious Robert Frost award to celebrate her lifetime achievements in poetry. She was born on the 19th August 1908 in Ontario which came as a big shock to her parents ...
Daniel Hoffman was a multi-award winning American poet, literary critic and essayist. He taught English at three different institutions during his lifetime, one being Columbia University where he had studied on three different degree courses. In 1973 he became his country’s twenty-second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. While much of his poetry was based on events from his own life, ...
Stanley Kunitz was a US born Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and journalist who lived a remarkably long life that spanned a hundred years. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress twice, the first time in 1974 and then again at the age of 95. He taught at a number of colleges, travelling the country wherever he could find a position. He ...
Staceyann Chin is a Jamaican-born poet and performing artist who campaigns vehemently on behalf of LGBT issues. She has been openly gay since arriving in the Brooklyn district of New York City and has appeared on television shows such as the Oprah Winfrey Show where she recounted her struggles growing up in the Caribbean. Her poetry has been published extensively in book form ...
Muriel Rukeyser was a 20th century American poet who wrote a great deal about social injustice and equality of the races and sexes. As well as works of poetry she also produced a number of children’s books and wrote feminist-themed plays. In 1949 she wrote a critical work on American literature called A Life in Poetry. Being a Jewish female she rose ...
Audre Lorde was a 20th century American writer of often angry poetry and prose which she used as a weapon against social and racial injustice, two conditions that were on her mind throughout her life. She campaigned actively on civil rights and feminist issues, in particular for the rights of black women who still did not have the recognition that they craved, and ...
Jayne Cortez was a 20th century poet who often presented her own work to live audiences as a performance artist of the spoken word. Like so many others she was involved in political and social activities and was involved with the Black Arts Movement of writers and artists. Her work has been much anthologised in publications such as The Jazz Poetry Anthology and Daughters ...
Diane di Prima is an American writer and artist whose literary output numbers over forty books of poetry, prose and memoirs. She is popular around the world with her work having been translated into over twenty different languages. She has also written plays and taught poetry. She was born on the 6th August 1934 in the Brooklyn district of New York City, descended from ...
In the days since Trump"s inauguration, we’ve witnessed an increase in protesting and grass roots activism. And while it’s an immediate and important part of the democratic process, we’re also consciously looking to the activists who came before us. Here are seven of our favorite poet-activists and the causes that they hold dear. Whether you’re educating yourself on the movements of the past, searching for a line of poetry ...
