poetry

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Nobel Prize for Literature Goes to Tomas Transtromer

Swedish poet probes mysteries of the human mind

(Newser) - Better luck next year, Bob Dylan . Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer was today awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize for literature. The AP calls the 80-year-old a "perennial favorite" to win, and notes that Swedish journalists regularly camp outside his apartment in Stockholm on the big day in anticipation of victory....

Meet America's New Poet Laureate

Philip Levine named to one-year post

(Newser) - Philip Levine has already won nearly every major prize for his poetry, including two Guggenheims and a Pulitzer, and now he's America's newest poet laureate. The Library of Congress named him to the one-year position today; he succeeds WS Merwin. Growing up, Levine hated "prissy" poetry, which...

Sarah Palin's Emails Make for Marvelous Poetry

Michael Solomon arranges them into verse, with delightful results

(Newser) - File under: Why didn't I think of this first? Editor-slash-humorist Michael Solomon has pored over Sarah Palin's email trove searching not for salacious details but for inspired verse. What he's come up with is a collection of 50 poems written by the former governor herself. And Solomon...

Stewart Slams Fox Over Rapper Brouhaha ... Via Rap

No cops, Bushes hurt as Common performs at poetry night

(Newser) - Rapper Common was among several artists who performed at a poetry event at the White House last night—and he didn't shoot any cops. The rapper, whose presence at the event infuriated conservative pundits who seized upon some of his controversial lyrics, gently recited verses about love and the...

Google Computers Try to Tackle Poetry Analysis

Researchers say translating verse among the hardest challenges

(Newser) - "If music be the food of love, compute on." Yes, Google, has a new target in its sights—poetry. Google programmers are working on computers that can understand and translate poetry, NPR reports . "It's what we call AI complete," said a research scientist at Google. "...

Unearthed Ted Hughes Poem Tells of Sylvia Plath Suicide

'What happened that night?' asks tormented husband

(Newser) - A newly discovered poem by Sylvia Plath's husband reveals Ted Hughes' agonizing struggle to come to terms with his young wife's 1963 suicide. It's the first Hughes' poem known to directly address the circumstances surrounding the death of the famous American writer wracked by depression. "Then a voice like...

Annoyed by Beck's Take on Social Justice? Write a Haiku

'Hurling expensive / coffee at the expensive / TV screen now, Ahhh'

(Newser) - Searching for a unusual way to respond to Glenn Beck’s comments on “social justice,” the Jewish Funds for Justice settled on…haiku. “We wanted to do something that showed some wit, some humor, is little bit cathartic, and is highly participatory,” Mik Moore tells the...

Kanye West Is the Next Maya Angelou
 Kanye West Is the 
 Next Maya Angelou 

OR SO HE SAYS
Jan 7, 2010 9:29 AM CST

Kanye West Is the Next Maya Angelou

He's back in studio, comparing himself to legends

(Newser) - Famously egotistical rapper Kanye West is back in the studio—and comparing himself to Kobe Bryant and Maya Angelou in a typical-for-him, all-caps blog post . Unlike many rappers, he promises he won’t get worse with age, because “true poets get better,” he writes. There’s just one...

The Last Word in Roman Polanski Commentary
 The Last Word in 
 Roman Polanski 
 Commentary 
poetic justice
Oct 15, 2009 1:38 PM CDT

The Last Word in Roman Polanski Commentary

Calvin Trillin: 'He only raped one little girl'

(Newser) - The debate raging over Roman Polanski—hairsplitting over the definitions of guilt, genius, and rape, among other pertinent terms—has been missing one thing: verse. Veteran journalist and author Calvin Trillin dons his poet hat to take up the slack, devastatingly. His latest contribution to the Nation's "Deadline Poet"...

Angelou Alive, Well, Despite Reports

TMZ reports poet's illness, Twitterers add 'RIP'

(Newser) - Contrary to reports by TMZ and scores of Tweets and re-Tweets, Maya Angelou is alive and well. The gossip site reported over the weekend that the poet missed a Los Angeles awards show because she had been hospitalized. In fact, she hadn't been invited to the presentation. The mix-up exhibited...

Letters Reveal Byron's Feud With 'Turdsworth'

Unpublished correspondence up for sale

(Newser) - A collection of letters written by Lord Byron to a clergyman, some of them unpublished, sheds new light on the Romantic poet—who discloses his sexual escapades with servants and angry opinions of fellow writers. Several letters refer to a serving girl whom he took as his mistress; he dumped...

Poet, Punk Rocker Jim Carroll Dead at 60
 Poet, Punk Rocker 
 Jim Carroll Dead at 60 
OBITUARY
Sep 14, 2009 5:11 AM CDT

Poet, Punk Rocker Jim Carroll Dead at 60

Won fame with The Basketball Diaries

(Newser) - Poet and punk rocker Jim Carroll, 60, died of a heart attack Friday in his Manhattan home, the New York Times reports. Carroll is best known for The Basketball Diaries, a book about his experiences as a heroin-addicted basketball star in a New York City private school. A consummate New...

Shatner Graces Conan With More Palin 'Poetry'

This time, drawn from her Twitter feed

(Newser) - After realizing Sarah Palin’s incoherent resignation address was not actually a speech but rather poetry, Conan O’Brien started investigating her Twitter feed. “Some people have found her tweets to be a little rambling, confusing, and off-topic,” O’Brien said on last night’s Tonight Show, but...

Shatner Covers Palin's Farewell Poem ... Er, Speech

(Newser) - Sarah Palin’s farewell speech may have sounded like random meandering gibberish, but it was actually random meandering performance poetry, Conan O’Brien explained last night on NBC's Tonight Show. To celebrate her obvious gifts, he enlisted William Shatner for a Beat-style reading—and yes, it's as amazing as you...

Lovesick Baker Becomes Celebrated Somali Poet

Bodheri won enduring legacy but not his lady love

(Newser) - Of all the bread joints in all the world, she had to walk into his, writes Gwen Thompkins for NPR, and that began Somalia’s greatest tale of love and heartbreak. In the 1930s, Elmi Bodheri was just a poor baker—until he glimpsed a girl named Hodhan. Never mind...

Queen's Poet Savages Politicians in First Poem

(Newser) - Britain's poet laureates have been criticized for writing about humdrum events on the royal calendar. If her first effort is any indication, the new laureate—the first woman—has no such intentions. Carol Ann Duffy is ticked off about the nation's scandal over lawmakers' expense accounts, and she lets everyone...

Slam Poetry Too Mainstream: Founder

Once subversive art form now embraced nationwide

(Newser) - Slam poetry has ballooned from a grassroots movement to a national phenomenon—and its founder isn’t happy about it. “People just want to write what the last guy wrote so they can get their face on TV,” Marc Kelly Smith, who started the genre in Chicago 25...

Oxford Poetry Prof Resigns
Oxford Poetry Prof Resigns
May 25, 2009 7:17 PM CDT

Oxford Poetry Prof Resigns

First female to nab top post reverses earlier decision amid smear campaign accusations

(Newser) - The first woman to hold one of the UK’s top poetry posts has reversed direction and announced her resignation amid accusations that she ran a smear campaign against a rival, the Telegraph reports. Ruth Padel stepped down as the Oxford Professor of Poetry today but maintained she acted in...

Top UK Poetry Prof Refuses to Step Down

Oxford academic in brouhaha over sex allegation against rival

(Newser) - The first woman to hold Britain's highest academic post in poetry refuses to resign despite an uproar over whether she ran a dirty election campaign, reviving decades-old sexual harassment claims against her main rival, Nobel laureate Derek Walcott, the Guardian reports. Oxford Professor of Poetry-elect Ruth Padel admits she pointed...

Bob Dylan: Teen Plagiarist




 Bob Dylan: Teen Plagiarist 
May 20, 2009 12:17 PM CDT

Bob Dylan: Teen Plagiarist

(Newser) - Was the young Bob Dylan a plagiarist? A piece that Christie’s auction house has been touting as Dylan’s first known poem turns out to be the lyrics to a country song by the late Hank Snow, Reuters reports. A 16-year-old Dylan submitted the pilfered verses, which tell the...

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