Blog Posts by Subject: Poetry

Roger Bonair-Agard is the guest of Urban Word NYC on August 3, and he is definitely not afraid to speak his mind. When the media reports that the world’s first all-black penguin is “assimilating nicely,” Roger is there to fire back a volley. While Lil’ Wayne raps about bling, Roger pokes fun at his tattoos and interviews with Katie Couric. We need Roger Bonair-Agard out there fighting, shouting so that he can be heard above the din. 

Now more than ever, the world needs to hear from Roger Sedarat. Since his career began, he’s been raging against oppressive regimes throughout the world, but his focus is Iran. He wants his work to help the Iranian people seize their country for their own. Sometimes this plays out in a symbolic way in his work, and sometimes in more literal fashion. He laments lost loved ones, lost human rights, and lost culture. He focuses his anger to a point and uses it to change people’s minds. Witness this video of his poem “IRAN,” a call to seize the word itself:

Urban Word’s Summer Wordshops are rolling right along. On Wednesday, July 27, Aimee Nezhukumatathil joins the fray for an afternoon workshop at Urban Word HQ from 3 to 5 p.m. Head downtown afterwards to hear her read from her new book, Lucky Fish, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

This summer, The New York Public Library is pleased to partner with Urban Word NYC for a summer of poetry. Urban Word hosts poetry workshops year-round for teens, and they are free, free, free — the best kind of entertainment in New York City.

I’m psyched to hear some of the poetry that our amazing teens come up with to welcome their first visiting poet in the Summer Build-A-Peace series, Alexis DeVeaux. She’s a Harlem native that has spent the better part of 40 years fighting the good fight through poetry and activism.

Harold Camping predicted the world would end on May 21, 2011. These are our responses:

The Tree of Life opens May 27th in theaters; of course, having not yet seen the film there is little I can say about it (the studio released only a few plot details), but a discussion of his previous films may inform a deeper viewing more than simply assuming a passive stance. All too often, we are encouraged to receive films or books this way, in some vague popular idea that our minds are storage receptacles and that we simply experience a movie more or less in the fashion the filmmakers intended. I would like to counter this idea and promote a very much active participation when people 'read' a book or 'watch' a movie, and to counter it properly I will invoke and introduce 

Our final week of April in the Reader's Den will focus on the selected works of poets contributing to a new poetry and arts journal, The L.E.S Review, founded by poet, artist, and Pratt Institute Library and Information Science student Jesi Bender.

Camille isn't impressed with her new town. It's nothing like her old town (or the one before that, or the one before that). It's tedious making new friends during senior year only to move on like she always does, like they all will with college around the corner. Still, she'll put on a show and pretend it all matters while she marks time until her escape like she always does.

Until she meets Alec at a party. He isn't the boy she left behind. But he's here. He's smart. He's a poet. That's pretty close to perfect.

Once upon a time, when I was a backpacking young Bohemian visiting Prague, I had a roomate who introduced me to the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. Having toted the books with him across continents for quiet contemplation, I wondered, what was it about Rilke's words that inspired such steadfast devotion?

The Edo period of Japan (1603 - 1868) was considered one of the most stable and peaceful eras in Japanese history. At this time Japan was a fuedalist state ruled by shoguns of the Tokugawa family, but there was simultaneously a significant flourishing of arts and culture. A revival of the principles of Confucianism, and an openness towards embracing Western science and technology characterized this period. It was the height of Kabuki theatre, geisha entertainment, and Ukiyo-e printmaking. One of the most prominent poets to emerge from the Edo period was Matsuo Bashō (b. 1644 - d. 1694).

We're off and running.  Today was fascinating.  Professor Matt spoke convincingly about the various solutions, or non-solutions, to the end of the sonnets.  At each sonnet's end, at the end of the 'young man' sonnets, or the 'dark lady's' sonnets, or the end of the set, or the end with "A Lover's Complaint" to follow?  All indeterminate, false and tricksy.  The sonnets seem to invite that.  But what was really fun was John Benson (no, not Ben Jonson - one can't make these things up) and his re-ordering and regrouping of the sonnets into a storied sequence.  Professor Matt approves, thinking the sonnets cried out for this.  And 

Thursday April 14th is Poem in Your Pocket Day.  This tradition began in New York City in 2002 and expanded nationally several years later.  If you go to New York City's PIYPD page, you can learn about special events that will take place that day, and even read some poems by mayor Michael Bloomberg.  But let's get to the real question... how will you pick the right poem for your pocket?

WOW @ The Library: Celebrating a Centennial of Women’s Poetry

April is poetry month! “What is poetry?.” Is poetry perhaps a garden of expressions blooming in the light of thoughtful thoughts? Wonderful words dancing to the rhythm of rhymes? or Sweet tweets that spring from swayable heartbeats? 

According to Edmond Holmes, “Poetry is the expression of strong and deep feeling.” 

But, anyway that poetry may be interpreted, this short selection of poetic works written by and about women, including Pulitzer Prize 

April 2011 marks the 16th anniversary of National Poetry Month, and we shall embark on this sweet 16 with an appreciation of everyone's favorite Sufi mystical poet, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, otherwise known as Rumi (1207 - 1273 AD). Born in a remote Persian village in the region now known as Tajikistan, Rumi wrote poems of longing and ecstacy that made sweeping parallels between romantic and spiritual love. He was particularly fascinated with the use of music, dance, and poetry as the means for acheiving communion with the divine. We will discuss the following poem, which is a translation by Coleman Barks. Translated versions of poetry may risk appearing as a 

A Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that has become popular in the U.S. In English Haikus are generally three line poems that have five syllables in the first verse, seven in the second and five in the third—we generally stuck to this form although since it's poetry, we allowed for some poetic license. In January and February as we negotiated our way around what seemed like non-stop snow, members of the Writers Club, inspired by cool scenes of the winter photography of Crystal Odame and the summer hot artwork of Romare Bearden, wrote some Haikus of many sorts and there are more on the Manga wall in Teen Central.

We are all moved by the horrific disasters, natural and man-made, that have occurred in Japan.  When we met on March 17th a cataclysmic nuclear meltdown seemed quite possible and maybe imminent.  It was non-stop on the news, in our minds and conversations.  Many of the people who come to Teen Central on a regular basis are Manga fanatics and they have strong feelings about Japan and the dynamic impact its' culture has on their lives.  Even those of us who are not that into Manga realize that Japan, though physically far away, is closely linked every day to our economy and society.

Are you a fan of poetree? A lover of all things green and leafy? Ever want to know more about a Baobab or an oak? Or tree roots and seeds? Look no further than Poetrees (2010) written and illustrated by Douglas Florian.

Are you ready for Valentine's Day?  I am.  My house is decorated with every kind of heart imaginable to mankind, I have my valentine baking pan ready and my chocolate lollipop molds ready to be filled, but my favorite part of Valentine's day is reading about the holiday and losing myself in a romantic poem, novel or movie.  Recommendations will follow; first a little history from the Worldbook online.

Whether a work of art inspires a poem, think John Keats and the Grecian Urn, or whether a poem inspires a work of art, as in William Blake's illustrations for Dante's Inferno, the line drawn between art and poetry has been crossed, hatched, and colored in amazing ways.  The Mid-Manhattan Library Art and Picture Collections are offering a four-week workshop to examine the connection between art and poetry and we invite you to join us.