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Posted by: Peter Armenti
Today marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of the first volume of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s Children’s and Household Tales (Kinder-und Hausmärchen), popularly known as Grimms’ Fairy Tales. The collection’s bicentennial has already been marked by the publication of a new retelling of fifty of the tales by His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman …
Posted in: Collections
Posted by: Peter Armenti
Poet Jack Gilbert, who touched the lives of countless readers through lucid, lyrical poems that explored classic themes such as love, death, and the good life, passed away Tuesday at age 87. Though Gilbert eschewed the literary limelight and would never have considered serving as U.S. Poet Laureate, he came to the Library at least …
Posted in: News and Events
Posted by: Peter Armenti
The following is a guest post by Rob Casper, head of the Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress, from his home in Brooklyn, NY. I write this on Oct. 31st, from Brooklyn. My wife and I live in Park Slope—I commute to DC every week. We got through the storm unscathed, unlike the …
Posted in: Guest Posts
Posted by: Peter Armenti
In a February blog post on State Poets Laureate I mentioned that From the Catbird Seat would periodically update readers when new State Poets are appointed. During the past five weeks there have been a flurry of changes to State Poet positions, making this an opportune time to give a brief roundup of recent activity. …
Posted in: News and Events, Poets Laureate
Posted by: Peter Armenti
This post addresses one of the most common questions received by the Library’s Poetry and Literature Center: How is the Poet Laureate selected? Since the presidential election season is upon us, I should first hasten to point out that Poet Laureate is not appointed the same way as the U.S. president: there are no Poet …
Posted in: Poets Laureate
Posted by: Peter Armenti
The following is a guest post by Abby Yochelson, English and American Literature Reference Specialist at the Library of Congress’s Main Reading Room, Humanities and Social Sciences Division. It is the first in a series that will feature the types of literary resources to be found throughout the Library. Many literary researchers visiting the Library …
Posted in: Collections, Guest Posts
Posted by: Peter Armenti
The relationship between poetry and the Olympics reaches back at least 2,500 years, when the Greek poet Pindar (ca. 518-438 B.C.) composed victory odes, or epinicia, for victorious athletes competing in the Olympics and the three other major Panhellenic games—those at Pythia, Nemea, and the isthmus of Corinth. Of these, the Olympic games were the …
Posted in: Digital Resources
Posted by: Peter Armenti
The Library of Congress’s acquisition of Carl Sagan’s papers in late June presents researchers with new opportunities to learn about the noted astronomer and scientific communicator’s life and work. While the majority of research will presumably focus on his scientific activities, the Library’s initial release of several digitized items from the collection demonstrates that many …
Posted in: Collections
Posted by: Peter Armenti
As part of a multiyear “Celebration of the Book,” on Monday the Library of Congress launched the exhibit “Books That Shaped America.” The centerpiece of the exhibit is an initial display of 88 books deemed by the Library to be of cultural significance to America. You can view the list of books here. The list …
Posted in: News and Events