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Poetry Is Everywhere at the Library of Congress!

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Mural depicting Lyric Poetry (Lyrica). Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building

April brings the proverbial showers, but it also brings poetry month! We’ve written quite a bit about poetry.  And, of course, the Poetry and Literature Center frequently writes about poetry; explore the Literary Treasures category in their blog to find some gems. But colleagues all over the Library dig deep, and find sometimes-surprising connections. Poetry abounds at the Library of Congress, and here are some places to find more!

  • The Library of Congress blog has a Poetry category. Recently, it published a compilation of resources on Ukraine, including poetry in Ukrainian culture.
  • Inside Adams, from the Library’s science and business division mused about Emily Dickinson and the science of poetry.
  • When I started looking for poetry in other blogs, I was delighted (and a bit surprised) to find that our colleagues at the Law Library have also written about poetry, ranging from James Weldon Johnson to A. A. Milne.
  • Our colleagues who work with the international collections write regularly about poetry. Check out this celebration of women in poetry from a couple of years ago.
  • Have fun with poetry activities created especially for children and families, including a series on screen-free poetry.

    illustration for the poem “Inscriptions for a Friend’s House”
    Life was made for love and cheer
  • Picture This shared the illustrations for Van Dyke’s “Inscriptions for a Friend’s House” and select other poems.
  • Copyright protects creativity, and that includes poetry, whether it’s the work of Gwendolyn Brooks, Joy Harjo, or the lyrics of a musical.
  • Poetry was once a regular feature in newspapers and the experts who work with those collections offer these tips to help you discover poetry in old newspapers.
  • The recorded sound collections include poetry, too!
  • And our colleagues in the American Folklife Center explore the many an varied connections between folklore and poetry. They recently wrote this guide to resources featured in a podcast on folklore and poetry.

Wherever you or your students find poetry in the Library’s collections, we welcome you to leave a comment sharing your discoveries.

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