“The sound of poetry is ultimately important . . . the breaks and concentrations of sound. It can be shown, not talked about very well,” Hall said. “You can show it with a reading, and that’s why I think of radio and television. The aesthetic unit of a poem is a sequence of sounds. The [...]

Buddy Wakefield is a two-time International World Poetry Slam Champion (2004 and 2005). He”s been heard on NPR, BBC and HBO. You can see and hear his performance in the 2005 IWPS slam here. Here”s the press release for the CD that the performance poetry world has been waiting for:
Many of the folks in contemporary [...]

On the heels of the announcement of Donald Hall”s appointment to the position of U.S. Poet Laureate, Seattle has announced its list of contenders for the title of Seattle Poet Populist. The press release follows. There”s more to this post than an announcement of yet another poet to be honored and handed the responsibility of [...]

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS ANNOUNCES WINNER OF NATIONAL FINALS OF POETRY OUT LOUD: NATIONAL RECITATION CONTEST

Columbus Alternative High School senior Jackson Hille wins first prize
among 12 finalists from around the country
Washington, DC — While he is a young man, Ohio senior Jackson Hille’s humorously explored the trials of aging in the poem “Forgetfulness,” by [...]

In grade school and high school, they made you memorize poems — usually bad ones. The good poems memorize themselves.
So says Alan Van Dine, author of “If Instead of Apes We Had Come From Grapes, We Wouldn”t Yet Be Wine”. If that”s true, then there”s a lot to memorize in his collection of light [...]