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Category: Poetry

The words "National Book Festival" above a large number 25 are spelled out across the orange spines of several books.

The National Book Festival’s 25th Edition!

Posted by: Neely Tucker

The National Book Festival’s 25th edition returns to D.C. on September 6 with a stellar list of novelists, historians, poets, young-adult and childrens authors, more than 90 in all. You’ll see novelists such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Scott Turow and Jess Walter; non-fiction authors such as Ron Chernow, Jill Lepore and Geraldine Brooks; and Academy …

Medium distance photo of Ada Limon on stage behind a plexiglass podium, smiling broadly.

Ada Limón’s Final Lecture as Poet Laureate: “You have to love.”

Posted by: Maria Peña

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón's final lecture last week in the Coolidge Auditorium was a love letter to poetry to libraries and librarians. Her lecture, titled “Against Breaking: On the Public and Private Power of Poetry,” framed poetry as a shared, not solitary, experience and as a celebration of humanity’s range of voices and perspectives.

Head-and-shoulders portrait of Sarah Hale, an engraving showing her in mid 19th century attire, including a white bonnet. She has a somber expression, looking to the left of the viewer

The Woman Who Helped Put Thanksgiving on the Calendar

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Sarah Josepha Hale was a prominent magazine editor, abolitionist and social activist throughout most of the 19th century, perhaps best known for composing the children's nursery rhyme, "Mary Had a Little Lamb." But her most long-lasting effort was her years-long campaign to get the federal government to designate Thanksgiving as a federal holiday. Her decisive tactic? A letter to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.

Wide shot of a rocket lifting off, with clouds of smoke and fire at its base, headed into a crystal blue sky.

NASA and the Library Send Poetry into Space

Posted by: Brett Zongker

NASA's Europa Clipper has set sail for a moon of Jupiter to explore the possibilies of life. Launced last week, the craft carries a metal vault plate inscribed with the poem “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa,” by Ada Limón, the national poet laureate. NASA, Limón and the Library invited people worldwide to sign on to the poem and send their names to space with it on a microchip. More than 2.6 million people did so. Their names, alongside the poem, are aboard the Clipper for a six year journey to Europa.

Wide shot of a woman looking up at a giant Redwood tree. The photo only shows the base of the tree, which is nearly 75 feet in circumference.

Ada Limón & Poetry in the National Parks!

Posted by: Neely Tucker

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón kicked off her "You Are Here: Poetry in the Parks" project at several National Parks around the country this summer, from Cape Cod to California. With installations in the parks, she's hoping to showcase "the ways reading and writing poetry can situate us in the natural world." Her tour continues in October at Florida's Everglades National Park and at Arizona's Saguaro National Park in December.

Handwritten title page of an essay written on lined notebook paper.

Treasures Gallery: Surviving Hiroshima

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Haruo Shimizu, a Japanese schoolteacher, survived the United States’ bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. One year later, he wrote down his memories of that horrific day for a friendly U.S. soldier stationed in Japan, who brought it home after his deployment. Today, it is one of the items featured in the new Treasures of the Library gallery.