Wake Up to Poetry

How would you like to wake up to poetry every morning - or just one special morning? Maybe there"s someone in your life that deserves to hear a poem when they pick up the phone? That"s the premise behind Wake Up Call, a six month old service based in Pittsburgh that has gone national. Based on the hotel wake up call, Wake Up Call allows ...

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Works to Form Bonds with Bulgaria

One of the commitments made by any incoming poet laureate of the United States is to help create an awareness of poetry in the country and throughout the world. William Meredith, U.S. Poet Laureate 1978-1980, held to that commitment during his tenure by inviting poets from Bulgaria to come and share their works with us. The bond created then has endured throughout the intervening decades, ...

SlamNation Lives On

It started back in 1998 - not slam poetry. That was already into its teens. No, we"re talking about the art of documenting the Slam scene. That was the year that Paul Devlin"s SlamNation was released to rapidly become a must-own-must-see video for any fan of the spoken word scene. It documented the behind the scenes and onstage action of the National Poetry Slam. ...

Poets Making a Difference Part II

Last month, we wrote about the Boston HipHop community pulling together to help bring peace and bring about social change. In the wake of four shooting deaths, the local poets and hip hop artists called upon the mayor of Boston to meet with them and help them help the city. It"s not unusual for poets to step up to the plate when there"s a ...