On April 8, 2024, Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, Massachusetts hosted an interfaith screening of our season four episode “Hill Country,” followed by a panel discussion with the poet Tracy K. Smith, episode guests Rav Claudia Kreiman and Rav Tiferet Berenbaum, and PIA’s own Elisa New.
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The first three seasons of Poetry in America will air on the WORLD Channel in honor of National Poetry Month. Tune in to your local WORLD Channel 2-5pm ET / 11am-2pm …
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What can the 18th-century Black, enslaved teenage poet Phillis Wheatley teach us today about how language can be wielded artfully to create power?
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Where do you turn when you don’t have the words? This National Poetry Month, explore unforgettable American poems with Joe Biden, Shaquille O’Neal, Gloria Estefan, Nas, Sonia Sanchez, Tony Kushner, Tracy K. Smith, Elena Kagan, John McCain, Yo-Yo Ma, Katie Couric, Bono, and more.
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Richard Blanco is a poet who, when reflecting on his past, displays both his inimitable uniqueness and the universality of his experiences.
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May 2022 marked the graduation of the first class of Poetry in America, 1850-1945.
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On April 13th, 2022, Arizona PBS presented a celebration of National Poetry Month, spotlighting the Arizona State University faculty who appeared in our third season.
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On April 12th, 2022, Poetry in America’s own Elisa New and Gillian Osborne joined the National Student Poets Class of 2020 for a discussion of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s provocative poetry, and their own craft.
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Poetry in America reunited with PBS Books on January 26th, 2022 to host another virtual event on trailblazing women poets. Elisa New and PBS Books host Heather-Marie Montilla were joined by PIA Season Three featured poet Evie Shockley to discuss her poem, “you can say that again, billie.” The group was joined by two distinguished guests, who also appear in our Season Three episode: historian Robin D.G. Kelley, and actor LisaGay Hamilton.
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On Friday, March 11th, 2022, the independent Miami bookshop Books and Books hosted a screening of our episode on Richard Blanco’s “Looking for The Gulf Motel,” atSanctuary of the Arts in Coral Gables, Florida. The sold-out screening was followed by a fascinating discussion and audience Q&A with Blanco, Elisa New, and entrepreneur Nely Galán, as well as a reading and book signing with Blanco.
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February 10th, in collaboration with Theater of War and Community Building Art Works (CBAW), we hosted a virtual community discussion of Walt Whitman’s “The Wound-Dresser.”
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On November 3rd, 2021, this year’s National Book Award winning poet Martín Espada spoke with high schoolers in our dual-enrollment course Poetry in America: Poetry of the City from Whitman to Hip Hop.
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Did you know that President John F. Kennedy’s final speech, at the dedication of Amherst College’s Robert Frost Library in 1963, hailed Robert Frost as a guardian of democracy and a role model for students?
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On Thursday, June 3rd, Poetry in America Host Elisa New gave a presentation to educators at the NYC Department of Education’s Beyond Access Forum. Over 600 New York City teachers, paraprofessionals, librarians, and other education professionals tuned in to the virtual presentation, ELA for Social and Emotional Learning: Poetry and Renewal.
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On April 6th, 2021, PIA host Professor Elisa New and Planet Word Museum’s led “Poems for the Pandemic.”
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On January 27, 2021, in the wake of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, partners Theater of War and Poetry in America presented live readings of Robert Hayden’s classic poem “Those Winter Sundays” by actors Moses Ingram (The Queen’s Gambit) and Bill Murray (Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Rushmore), along with a recording of the new President reading the poem.
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Poetry in America reunited with PBS Books on January 12th, 2021 to host another virtual event on trailblazing women poets.
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This summer, Poetry in America teamed up with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and Wide Open School to offer the Whatever It Takes to Speak Your Mind Challenge. The challenge …
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On June 12th, 2020, the Sheen Center presented Poetry in America Live “Finishing the Hat” as part of the celebration of Sondheim’s 90th. The most recent event in an ongoing series, this live event involved performance and discussion of lyrics from “Sunday in the Park with George.”
The event featured several guests from the Season 2 episode on the song but was by no means a rehash of well-worn terrain. The live format both expanding the time available for discussion and narrowed in the conversation to fewer guests, creating a discrete and complementary experience.
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