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Posted by: Peter Armenti
The following is a guest post by Catalina Gómez, program coordinator in the Library of Congress Hispanic Division. As the program coordinator of the Library of Congress Hispanic Division, it’s my pleasure to announce the launch of an exciting online feature: “Spotlight on U.S. Hispanic Writers,” presenting interviews with contemporary American poets and prose writers …
Posted in: Digital Resources, Guest Posts
Posted by: Peter Armenti
The following is a guest post by Lavonda Kay Broadnax, a research specialist in the Library of Congress’s Digital Reference Section. The sesquicentennial of the U.S. Civil War is a wonderful time to celebrate and promote the literature written by African American women who lived during the Civil War. To help researchers explore the legacy …
Posted in: Digital Resources, Guest Posts, News and Events
Posted by: Peter Armenti
Several readers submitted questions to me after my recent blog post on state poets laureate. They were surprised that their own state was one of only six—Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, and Pennsylvania—that does not have a state poet position, and wanted to know how they could help establish one. While I can’t …
Posted in: Poets Laureate
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, …
Posted in: Digital Resources
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 …
Posted in: Poets Laureate
Posted by: Peter Armenti
In celebration of National Poetry Month From the Catbird Seat would like to invite all of our readers to join us on April 30th, noon to 1 p.m. EDT, for a free, online program, “Bringing Poetry to the Public.” Our very own Rob Casper will welcome special guests Mike Melia (PBS NewsHour Senior Broadcast Producer) …
Posted in: Digital Resources, News and Events
Posted by: Peter Armenti
The following guest post is by Andrew Weber, a legislative information systems manager at the Library of Congress. It is cross posted on the Law Library’s blog, In Custodia Legis. Earlier this week, I made a trip to the attic of the Thomas Jefferson Building to see the Poetry and Literature Center of the Library …
Posted in: Digital Resources, Guest Posts, Poets Laureate
Posted by: Peter Armenti
In Ancient Greece, the three poets best known for celebrating the Olympic Games were Simonides of Ceos, Bacchylides, and most famously Pindar, whose work I discussed in a July 2012 blog post on poetry and the Olympics. All three poets were known for a type of lyric ode known as epinicion (plural: epinicia), written in …
Posted in: Digital Resources