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Category: Poetry

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Rare Book of the Month: “I Am Anne Rutledge…”

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) This week, we not only celebrate the birthday of author Edgar Lee Masters (Aug. 23, 1868) but also observe the untimely death of Ann Rutledge (Aug. 25, 1835), who figured in his best-known work. Masters spent his childhood …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Letters About Literature: Dear Dorothy Parker

Posted by: Erin Allen

We’re winding down our blog feature highlighting the 2016 Letters About Literature contest with winners from Level 3 (grades 9-12). The contest asks young people in grades 4 through 12 to write to an author (living or deceased) about how his or her book affected their lives. Today we feature National Prize-winner Sara Lurie of Colorado, who wrote …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Letters About Literature: Dear Maya Angelou

Posted by: Erin Allen

Last month, the Library announced the 2016 winners of the Letters About Literature contest, a national reading and writing program that asks young people in grades 4 through 12 to write to an author (living or deceased) about how his or her book affected their lives. Research shows that students benefit most from literacy instruction when …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Library in the News: April 2016 Edition

Posted by: Erin Allen

April headlines covered a wide range of stories about the Library of Congress. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera continues to make the news, especially with the April announcement of his returning for a second term. Herrera told Sara Catania of Reuters that poetry fans provided an “inspiration tsunami” during his first year in which he …

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Here’s to a Couple of Ruff Characters

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Four hundred years ago this weekend, two of the greatest geniuses in wordcraft this world has ever seen both died: William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes. Shakespeare’s plays still dazzle, written though they are in Elizabethan English and iambic pentameter; their story lines are still fresh enough to inspire endless straight-play performance worldwide, Broadway musicals …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Pic of the Week: An Encore for the Poet Laureate

Posted by: Erin Allen

Juan Felipe Herrera, U.S. poet laureate consultant in poetry, has been appointed a second term – an appointment announced, then celebrated in the Coolidge Auditorium on Wednesday night. “What a great joy, what a great joy this is,” Herrera, the 21st laureate, told the audience. “How beautiful it is to be here. How beautiful the Library of Congress is. …

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Pic of the Week: Hedge Coke Honored as Witter Bynner Fellow

Posted by: Erin Allen

On Wednesday, poet Allison Hedge Coke was honored as the 2016 Witter Bynner Fellow. She was selected and introduced by Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress, Juan Felipe Herrera. In his selection, Herrera said he sought to honor Hedge Coke “for her precision of Earth, of suffering in and out of …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

A Valentine for the Ages: The Biblical “Song of Songs”

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following post is by Ann Brener, Hebraic area specialist in the Library’s African and Middle Eastern Division.) With its rich nature imagery and enigmatic dream-like sequences, the “Song of Songs” (also known as the “Songs of Solomon”) is surely one of the world’s great love poems and one of the most popular books in …

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New Blog Series: New Online

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post by William Kellum, manager in the Library’s Web Services Division.) This is the first post in a new monthly series highlighting new collections, items and presentations on the Library’s website. After checking out the items mentioned here, be sure to visit some of our other blogs that highlight our …