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Archive: 2019 (91 Posts)

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Turning a Poem into a Play

Posted by: Peter Armenti

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. Just as watching or acting out a Shakespeare play enables students to access it in ways that reading alone cannot, imagine what insights students may …

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Literary Treasures: Remembering W. S. Merwin, 1927-2019

Posted by: Anne Holmes

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 Library’s …

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Behind “Climate Change, Nature, and the Writer’s Eye”: Q&A with Marie Arana, Literary Advisor to the Librarian of Congress

Posted by: Robert Casper

Tomorrow, March 20, the Library of Congress will host “Climate Change, Nature, and the Writer’s Eye,” a program honoring 2018 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction winner Annie Proulx. In anticipation, I asked Marie Arana—the coordinator of the prize, literary advisor to the Librarian of Congress, and literary director of the National Book Festival—a …

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Springing into March Events

Posted by: Anne Holmes

There’s a whiff of spring in the air here in D.C., and we at the Poetry and Literature Center are excited to keep up that seasonal momentum with some celebratory March events. We hope you’ll join us! This Thursday, March 14, Kenyan author and 2018 Caine Prize winner Makena Onjerika will read from her prize-winning short …

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Poetry of Nature

Posted by: Peter Armenti

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 last month’s blog post I discussed how to engage students from different locales in reading and writing “Poetry of the City.” This month, my …

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Alfred the Great, Thomas Jefferson, and Cable TV: Ninth-Century Anglo-Saxon and Latin Literature in Popular Television Shows and at the Library

Posted by: Peter Armenti

The following is a guest post by Mark F. Hall, a research specialist in the Library of Congress’s Researcher and Reference Services Division. The history and culture of Medieval Europe in general, and Britain in particular, have figured prominently in recent popular culture. Inspired perhaps by the popularity of the medieval-themed HBO fantasy show Game …

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African-American History Month: A Forgotten Tribute to President Abraham Lincoln

Posted by: Peter Armenti

This is a guest post by Lavonda Kay Broadnax, digital reference specialist in the Library’s Researcher and Reference Services Division. It was originally posted on the Library of Congress Blog. Abraham Lincoln was fond of poetry: He wrote poems, read them, received them and was the subject of many. So states “Abraham Lincoln and Poetry,” …

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Poetry 180: 10 New Poems to Celebrate!

Posted by: Anne Holmes

Last month, high schools around the nation settled in to start the second half of the academic year. We’re a little late to the celebration, but we hope you’ll still share our excitement: To mark this milestone, former Poet Laureate Billy Collins has added 10 new poems to Poetry 180! Launched in 2002 as Collins’ laureateship project, …

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Final Podcast Episode: Making “American Conversations” in Kentucky

Posted by: Anne Holmes

We hope you’ve enjoyed exploring the origins of Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith’s “American Conversations” project with us on the From the Catbird Seat podcast these past few weeks. Today’s announcement is bittersweet: The third and final episode of our “Making ‘American Conversations’” series is now online. You can listen and subscribe via our podcast page, iTunes, …