Poetry blog

We keep you updated on the world of poetry with our news roundups.

Recent posts

Edwin James Brady Poems

 

Edwin James Brady was an Australian poet, short story writer and journalist. A committed nationalist, he took an active interest in the Labour party and wrote a number of articles on socialist and economic issues of the day. He was born on the 7th August 1869 at Carcoar in New South Wales, the son of Irish immigrants. His father, Edward John, had originally ...

Marilyn Hacker Poems

 

Marilyn Hacker is an American poet, literary critic and academic who was until fairly recently a Professor of English at the City College of New York, but is now retired. An acknowledged master of the "French forms" in poetry she has also translated a number of French works into English. She was born on the born 27th November 1942 in the Bronx district of New York City, ...

Alicia Ostriker Poems

 

Alicia Ostriker is an American poet and professor of English who is now in her 79th year. She has been known throughout her life as an outspoken writer often espousing the rights of women through her poetry and has been described in a publication called Progressive as "America"s most fiercely honest poet". She was born Alicia Suskin on the 11th November 1937 into ...

Maxine Kumin Poems

 

Maxine Kumin was an American poet and occasional teacher of English and poetry at various educational establishments. She had the honour of serving as her nation’s Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress between 1981 and 1982 and, in later life, she was a breeder of Arabian horses on a farm in Warner, New Hampshire. She was born Maxine Winokur on the ...

Hyam Plultzik Poems

 

Hyam Plutzik was a 20th century American poet, journalist and university professor who made the list of finalists for a Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1961, although he did not actually win that award. He was born on the 13th July 1911 in Brooklyn, New York into a family of Jewish immigrants from Belarus who had arrived six years earlier. The family began farming ...

Elinor Morton Hoyt Wylie Poems

 

Elinor Morton Hoyt Wylie was an American writer whose short life spanned only four decades either side of the turn of the 20th century. She was a great beauty and, as such, was known for that as much as her literary talent and her poetry was described as having melodious and sensuous properties. She was born Elinor Morton Hoyt on the 7th September 1885 into a ...

Eliza Acton Poems

 

Eliza Acton was a 19th century English poet and pioneer of cookery writing. Her books on kitchen arts, including detailed recipes with cooking times, were for the benefit of those cooking in their own homes as opposed to professional chefs. Isabella Beeton followed her example much later and made a great commercial success of her venture. She was born Elizabeth Acton in the south ...

Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy Poems

 

Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy, MC was an English poet and Anglican priest who was immortalised for his work with wounded soldiers of the First World War. His pastoral and humanist care earned him the epithet 'Woodbine Willie' because of his habit of distributing cigarettes of that name to the men. His distinguished military career earned him the Military Cross, awarded for a ...

Ernst Toller Poems

 

Ernst Toller was a German-Jewish poet and playwright who was well known for his plays written in a style of writing known as Expressionism, a movement popular especially in Germany during the early part of the 20th century. His poetry often portrayed his anger at the senseless slaughter of men during the First World War, with stark titles such as Corpses in the Woods. ...

Spotlight on Jewish American Poets

 

With Hanukkah just around the corner, we’re reflecting on the prolific Jewish poets who fortify the cannon. Because as we unpack the chanukiah and dreidel in anticipation of the Festival of Lights, we’re also extolling the voices of our Jewish contemporaries. In honor of the holiday, here are eight of our favorite Jewish American poets to keep you warm during this eight-night celebration. .imgjewish{margin-top:35px}.imgjewish img {float: left;width: 24%;border: 1px #000 ...