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Posted by: Anne Holmes
On September 13, Tracy K. Smith greeted a packed house in the Coolidge Auditorium for her inaugural reading as 22nd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. “I remember when I was very young I started, but was never able to finish, a poem in which I was trying to imagine the afterlife as a library,” she said …
Posted in: News and Events, Poets Laureate
Posted by: Anne Holmes
Tonight at 7 PM, Tracy K. Smith will take the stage for her inaugural reading as 22nd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. The event is sold out, but don’t fret: If you’re unable to attend in person, you can still attend virtually; this historic evening will be streamed live via Facebook and YouTube. Librarian of …
Posted in: News and Events, Poets Laureate
Posted by: Anne Holmes
Today, as thousands upon thousands of high schools around the country bittersweetly sounded their morning bells for the first time this school year, we at the Poetry and Literature Center sounded our bells as well. Why, you ask? Because the start of the school year also brings with it the start of Poetry 180, and …
Posted in: Digital Resources, News and Events, Poets Laureate
Posted by: Anne Holmes
Today, at 4 p.m., the Library of Congress will host the appointment ceremony of the sixth class of the National Student Poets, honoring five outstanding youth poets from across the United States for their original work. As ambassadors for poetry, it’s no surprise that they’ve received a good amount of press from local and national …
Posted in: News and Events
Posted by: Anne Holmes
The following is a guest post by 2016 National Student Poet Alum Joey Reisberg. It originally appeared on the National Book Festival blog. The 2017 class of National Student Poets will be appointed this Thursday, August 31, at the Library of Congress, and will perform at the National Book Festival on the LOC Town Square Stage …
Posted in: Guest Posts, News and Events
Posted by: Anne Holmes
The following guest post was written by 2012 National Student Poet, Luisa Banchoff, with the below introduction by Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director for the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. The Class of 2017 National Student Poets will be appointed on Thursday, August 31, at the Library of Congress. Inaugural Class of 2012 National Student …
Posted in: Guest Posts, News and Events
Posted by: Peter Armenti
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 …
Posted in: News and Events
Posted by: Anne Holmes
This Saturday, July 29th, the Library of Congress will host the concluding day of the first-ever national Asian American Literature Festival. In anticipation of the Festival, we asked poet and Poetry Society of America President Kimiko Hahn—who will deliver an intimate lecture and read from her work on Saturday—a few questions. The last time you …
Posted in: Interviews, News and Events
Posted by: Anne Holmes
It’s been a busy month for us here at the Poetry and Literature Center as we excitedly prepare for the upcoming Asian American Literature Festival, which will take place all around Washington, D.C. from Thursday to Saturday, July 27–29. Co-presented with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, the festival—the first of its kind—will feature more …
Posted in: News and Events