On Tuesday, July 20th, 2021, Poetry in America filmed two roundtable discussions in our Brighton, MA office. Footage from these roundtables will be added to a forthcoming Poetry in America course for high school students and other learners, which will cover American poetry from 1850 to 1945. 

In the morning, our host Professor Elisa New and Senior Curriculum Developer Gillian Osborne were joined by the acclaimed poet Professor Joshua Bennett, and Professor of African American Studies and Education Jarvis Givens. The group discussed poems by Gwendolyn Brooks, George Horton, and Frances Harper — working up an appetite for lunch from a local bakery.

Then, in the afternoon, New and Osborne sat down with Professor of African American Studies and English, Glenda Carpio. Their wide-ranging conversation covered James Johnson, W.E.B. DuBois, Anne Spencer, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Langson Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Emily Dickinson, Frances Harper, Robert Hayden, Melvin Tolson, Georgia Johnson, and several classic spirituals. After the extensive and far-reaching discussion, our crew packed up to get some much needed rest — before another day of Season 4 filming tomorrow.