The following post is part of our monthly series, “Literary Treasures,” which highlights audio and video recordings drawn from the Library’s extensive online collections, including the Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature. By showcasing the works and thoughts of some of the greatest poets and writers from the past 75 years, the series advances the …
Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, adapted and released as a feature film earlier this month, is the latest in a long line of fantasy fiction to receive the big screen treatment. While, like many works in its genre, The Dark Tower was partly influenced by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, the work …
When the United States entered World War II in 1941, it opposed nations that had banned and burned books. In 1943, the Council on Books in Wartime, working with the War Department, began distributing pocket-size paperback volumes to soldiers in every theater of war. By 1947, approximately 123 million copies of some 1,300 titles in …
It’s been nearly a year since my last update on state poets laureate. Since then, ten states have welcomed new poets laureate, four of which have been appointed since May 1: Beth Ann Fennelly started her term as Mississippi Poet Laureate on August 10, 2016; Michael Erdelen was named Premiere Poet of Indiana in October …
The following guest post, part of our “Teacher’s Corner” series, is by Rebecca Newland, a Fairfax County Public Schools Librarian and former Teacher in Residence at the Library of Congress. One possible way to engage students with poetry is to explore poems that have been set to music. Consider collaborating with music teachers in your …
The following is a guest post by Mark F. Hall, a research specialist with the Library of Congress’s Digital Reference Team. Over Memorial Day weekend, Captain Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp) and the latest installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise will sail into theaters across the country. While the storyline, special effects, …
The following guest post, part of our “Teacher’s Corner” series, is by Rebecca Newland, a Fairfax County Public Schools Librarian and former Teacher in Residence at the Library of Congress. In our up-to-the-minute society, we receive news almost as soon as it happens. For this reason students who engage with social media often have interest …
The following guest post was written by Barbara Bair, historian in the Library’s Manuscript Division. In this month celebrating the work of poets, we can honor Walt Whitman—the poet of democracy and nature, of sexuality and modernity, of globalism, nationalism, and mysticism—as both the people’s poet and the poet’s poet. The Library of Congress’s recent …
The following guest post, part of our “Teacher’s Corner” series, is by Rebecca Newland, a Fairfax County Public Schools Librarian and former Teacher in Residence at the Library of Congress. Epic poetry is often a regular part of the high school English curriculum. Among the epic poems most frequently taught in classrooms are Homer’s Greek …