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Archive: April 2014 (6 Posts)

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Dude, It’s Still National Poetry Month?

Posted by: Peter Armenti

The online magazine Slate recently featured a fascinating piece on the etymology of the word dude. Contrary to its modern usage as an informal word for your regular, Average Joe guy, in its original late-19th century context a dude typically referred to an effete, vacuous young man of affected manners and dress. In other words, …

The word

State Poets Laureate Roundup

Posted by: Peter Armenti

It’s been a while since I provided an update on current state poets laureate. As of this writing, forty-two states have an official position of state poet laureate, while two states, Alaska and Idaho, have a position for “State Writer Laureate” and “Writer-in-Residence,” respectively. The position of state poet laureate or state writer is occupied …

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The Library’s Young Readers Center Celebrates National Poetry Month

Posted by: Brock Thompson

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you. —Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass So much of children’s literature is grounded in poetry.  From the ever-popular nursery rhyme to the the famous Green Eggs and Ham, children’s literature relies on verse to teach lessons, impart history, …

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Laureate Projects Present and Past

Posted by: Robert Casper

Tonight the next segment of Natasha Trethewey’s second-year project, “Where Poetry Lives,” airs on the PBS NewsHour. For this segment, Natasha traveled to her native Mississippi to participate in the 14th Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage, led by Congressman John Lewis. This segment marks a turn for the project: the first four highlighted poetry programs with …

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National Poetry Month and Bad King John

Posted by: Robert Casper

The following guest post is by Margaret Wood, a senior legal research specialist at the Library of Congress. It is cross posted on the Law Library’s blog, In Custodia Legis. Magna Carta is coming to the Library of Congress in November 2014! This document is regarded as being one of the foundations of representative government …