Update: The CRDA has bowed to the pressure and has pulled the plug on the planned poetry readings Atlantic City is having some trouble. The little Las Vegas of New Jersey has seen better days. In the last year alone four of its casinos have closed and 8,000 folks lost their jobs. Clearly that puts pressure on The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA), an organization funded by a tax on casino revenue and tasked with running Atlantic City’s Tourism District and promoting economic development. One idea they had to liven things up a bit was to hire some poets...
Poetry is Wanted Here!
We can't let National Poetry Month go by without a taste of some of the poetry goodness that lives within the confines of the Digital Public Library of America. From the postcard above featuring an excerpt from a poem by Alex Caldero proclaiming 'Poetry is wanted here!' to a sampling of dust jackets, to a lunch poem from second graders, poetry is alive and well at DPLA. The First book of poetry [Title-page]. 1811 The pleasures of poetry. (Vol. 2) 1947 Poetry as a means of grace. The poetry of the Bible, a new anthology Poetry Week at Miss Duckett Monroe School Washington,...
Poetry on the Trails
April is National Poetry Month. National Park Week is set for April 18-26. What a better way to celebrate both cultural assets then to put some poetry in the parks! For the second year in a row the Port Angeles Library, which is part of the Washington State North Olympic Library System, is teaming up with Olympic National Park to create a series of four self-guided walks in the park featuring poetry scattered throughout the landscape. Poets featured include Emily Brontë, Robert Burns, Raymond Carver, E.E. Cummings, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, Mary Oliver, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Percy Shelley and Gary Snyder among others. And if your muse is kindled during your visit you're...
There is a problem with the new Maya Angelou stamp
The United States Post Office has joined the National Poetry Month festivities with its release of a limited edition stamp of poet Maya Angelou. Unfortunately there is a pretty big problem, the quote used on the stamp is not Angelou's. It comes from the 1967 book of poems A Cup of Sun by Joan Walsh Anglund and, apparently, it has somehow become over the years attributed to Angelou and her classic work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The Post Office (and most of the rest us) had no idea the quote originated with Anglund. No word yet on what, if any, action the Post Office...
Posters from the University of Arizona Poetry Center: 1960’s Style
Poetry is the food of the spirit, and spirit is the instigator of all revolutions, whether political or personal, whether national, world-wide, or within the life of a single quiet human being. —Ruth Stephan There was a lot of action at the Ruth Stephan Poetry Center in the 1960's. Founded by Stephan the mission of the Poetry Center was simple - to provide a place "to promote poetic literacy and sustain, enrich and advance a diverse literary culture" In 1962 The Poetry Center launched its seminal reading series. Inaugurated by Stanley Kunitz the series has hosted more than 1000 writers over the years including...