'Running For Your Life': A Community Poem For Ahmaud Arbery For this latest community poem, NPR poet-in-residence Kwame Alexander sifted through more than 1,000 submissions reacting to the killing of Ahmaud Abrery and created a poem that speaks with one voice. Rachel Martin
Lyric World presents poetry of loss and collective grief ‘Elegies ceased being / elegant.’ John O'Brien Play AudioListen 56 mins
A poem for my mother, a Vietnam boat refugee At just 8 years old, my mom, Diem Pham, became a refugee of the Vietnam War. Her parents put her on a small boat, where she spent 10 days at sea and six months at a refugee camp in Malaysia. Decades later, I interviewed her about that experience, and wove her answers into a spoken-word poem. Sah Pham Play AudioListen 4 mins
Opinion: Reading William Butler Yeats 100 Years Later NPR's Scott Simon reflects on what a 100 year-old poem by William Butler Yeats means today. Scott Simon Play AudioListen 3 mins
Opinion: T'was The Night Before Christmas in 2020 With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore, NPR's Scott Simon updates "A Visit from St. Nicholas" for 2020. Scott Simon Play AudioListen 3 mins
2020 Hugo House Fellows share works of ‘Luminosity’ for the new year Poets and essayists conjure post-holiday light Sonya Harris Play AudioListen 2 hours
'The New Dawn Blooms': Poet Amanda Gorman Recites 'The Hill We Climb' The 22-year-old composed a poem that acknowledges the recent insurrection attempt, but turns toward hope. America "isn't broken but simply unfinished," she said. Camila Domonoske
A Different Day: A 2021 Poetry Preview, Part 2 Poetry helps us express feelings that don't fit neatly into sentences; confusion and fear but also hope and joy. Here's the second installment of our look ahead at the most exciting poetry of 2021. Craig Morgan Teicher Phillip B. Williams Ken Chen Evie Shockley
After Inaugural Performance, Poet Amanda Gorman Tops The Amazon Bestseller List Gorman's debut poetry collection and an illustrated kids' book are first and second on the list — on the strength of pre-orders, since both titles won't be out until September. Petra Mayer
March 1st | 'When the blue bin rumbles' - Seattle's Civic Poet on finding poetry in a pandemic In her poem "Essential", Seattle Civic Poet Jourdan Keith writes: "In the dayless daze of quarantine, it is not the pale gray wisps in fuchsia sunsets that let me know the human world is okay. It is the morning, it is Tuesday, When the blue bin rumbles." Keith spoke to host Bill Radke about creating poetry during a pandemic. Plus, the struggle of Covid long-haulers, how the Puget Sound's public transit might change with the pandemic, and how Costco manages to keep their chickens so darn cheap. Bill Radke Play AudioListen 50 mins
