Delaware’s poetry lovers could be excused for doing a double take Wednesday evening. After all, Governor Jack Markell had just made an unprecedented announcement: identical twins Nnamdi Chukwuocha and Albert Mills, known as the Twin Poets, would share the title of 17th Poets Laureate of the State of Delaware. The appointment marks the first time …
The following is a guest post by Rob Casper, head of the Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress. I write you now, still recovering from Juan Felipe Herrera’s first couple of weeks as our 21st Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. His laureateship kicked off at the National Book Festival, where he read …
The poems of Pablo Neruda are among the most frequently translated works in the English language. While the Chilean poet has for many years enjoyed a huge readership in the United States, thanks to the widespread availability of English-language editions of his poetry, few people are aware of the integral role played by the Library …
Today marks the publication of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman, the manuscript that Lee, with the help of editor Tay Hohoff, shaped over the course of several years into the classic American novel To Kill a Mockingbird. This publication event, although tinged with controversy, provides us with an opportunity to remind social studies and …
Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819. Although From the Catbird Seat just highlighted a “lost” Whitman poem recently discovered at the Library, we decided that Whitman’s multitudes should not be contained by a single post, or even two posts, in the lead-up to his birthday. The best way to honor Whitman, we thought, …
Listen: Robert Frost interview with Randall Jarrell, May 19, 1959. From the Catbird Seat is excited to announce the online launch of a selection of recordings from the Library of Congress’s Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature, a series of audio recordings of renowned poets and prose writers reading from their work. Available as …
April is a big month for poetry programming at the Library of Congress. Patricia Smith, winner of the 13th Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry, will be reading at the Library on April 6th. And on April 30th, Charles Wright will conclude his term at the 20th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by holding …
Finding it hard to scratch that poetry itch during the lead-up to National Poetry Month? We’ve got the balm you need! The March/April issue of Library of Congress Magazine (LCM), released online today, shines a spotlight on the Library’s poetry-related activities, services, and collections. Among the topics of the articles and features in the poetry-themed …
