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Archive: December 2017 (6 Posts)

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Looking Ahead to 2018 Events

Posted by: Anne Holmes

As 2017 comes to an end, we’re excited to share what the Poetry and Literature Center has in store for the first half of 2018: For those on the West Coast, catch National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman and Los Angeles Poet Laureate Robin Coste Lewis at the Los Angeles Central Library on Saturday, January 13. The …

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Christmas poems by Joseph Brodsky and other U.S. Poets Laureate

Posted by: Peter Armenti

A few years back I wrote a blog post about Robert Frost’s “Christmas Cards.” Frost’s cards—chapbooks, more accurately—were first issued in 1929, and then annually from 1934-1962. While Frost was the first Consultant in Poetry or Poet Laureate to embrace a literary Christmastime tradition, he was not the last. In 1962, the year Frost’s final …

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“The Poet Diaries”: Giving the Gift of Poetry

Posted by: Anne Holmes

The following is a guest post by the inaugural National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman. This is the third in a series of monthly blog posts that Amanda will be writing during her laureateship this year.  This week something miraculous happened: I got a poem from my Secret Santa. Now, this might not seem that incredible, …

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Emily Dickinson—It’s What We’re Singing

Posted by: Anne Holmes

The following is a guest post by Pat Padua, Digital Conversion Specialist in the Library of Congress’ Music Division, on the occasion of Emily Dickinson’s 187th birthday (December 10). “I play the old, odd tunes yet, which used to flit about your head after honest hours.” One of the most iconic of American poets, Emily …

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“Success is Counted Sweetest” on Emily Dickinson’s 187th Birthday

Posted by: Anne Holmes

This coming Sunday, December 10, marks what would be Emily Dickinson’s 187th birthday. Around the country, Dickinson lovers will gather together to read all 1,789 of her known poems in a “marathon” tradition and tribute to the Belle of Amherst. The Library, in partnership with the Folger Shakespeare Library, hosted one such marathon in 2014. …