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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
If there’s a literature-shaped absence in your life, don’t fret: The Library of Congress has you covered. Whether you’re local to Washington, D.C. or elsewhere on the globe, our literary events are archived online and available for you to watch anytime. In case you missed out on …
It’s been a full week since Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced Tracy K. Smith as the 22nd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. As you can imagine, our new Laureate has been keeping herself busy: After the announcement, dozens of interviews and articles have appeared about her appointment, her view of the Laureateship, and her …
Today the Library of Congress announced the appointment of the 22nd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, Tracy K. Smith. Following is an interview that Poetry and Literature Center Digital Content Manager Anne Holmes conducted with Smith via e-mail. What was it like to get the call from the Librarian, asking you to be the next …