poetry

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At House Tonight / Obamas Plan / First-Ever Poetry Slam

Mayda Del Valle, ELEW among invitees

(Newser) - Check off another campaign promise. President Obama is hosting the White House’s first-ever poetry slam, part of his vow to open up “the people's house” to artists, WNBC-TV reports. The 100 guests include actor James Earl Jones, writer Michael Chabon, jazz musician Esperanza Spalding, and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda....

Duffy Named First Female Poet Laureate

(Newser) - Carol Ann Duffy and her 13-year-old daughter agreed it was time for a woman poet laureate in Britain, the Times of London reports. Widely expected to accept the post, Duffy, 53, agreed today to take over from incumbent Andrew Motion in the name of "great women poets ... like Alice...

His Dad's Death, Not Plath's, Spurred Hughes Suicide

(Newser) - Nicholas Hughes’ depression and eventual suicide were caused by the loss of his father in 1998, the Times reports. The younger Hughes and his father shared a special bond, and when Ted Hughes died, renowned fish biologist Nicholas “lost the relationship that mattered most to him,” a friend...

Sylvia Plath's Son Commits Suicide
Sylvia Plath's Son Commits Suicide
Mar 23, 2009 9:02 AM CDT

Sylvia Plath's Son Commits Suicide

46 years after she killed herself, Nicholas Hughes hangs himself

(Newser) - The son of writers Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes committed suicide last week, hanging himself at his home in Fairbanks, Alaska, following a battle with depression, reports the Times of London. Nicholas Hughes, 47, was a professor of fisheries and ocean sciences but had recently left his position to take...

'To Be or Not to Be' No Longer the Question for Poetry

Internet gives ancient art form a boost

(Newser) - Poetry is not going gently into that good night, having been energized by the very tool predicted to kill it: the Internet, reports the Telegraph. Email, social networking sites, and online media players are helping poets win over new audiences. “It’s counter-intuitive,” marveled poet Richard Price. Poetry...

Comedian? Poet? Vampire? Anything but Governor

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich probably didn’t help his case with his whirlwind media tour yesterday, “but he just might establish himself as an unofficial poet laureate of the criminal justice system,” Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post. Blago quoted Tennyson and Kipling all day, proclaimed his innocence, compared...

Sarah Palin, Accidental Poet
 Sarah Palin, Accidental Poet 
OPINION
Oct 2, 2008 6:33 PM CDT

Sarah Palin, Accidental Poet

(Newser) - The past month has seen Sarah Palin become a vice presidential candidate, anti-feminist or feminist icon (depending on whom you ask) and ... a poet? Hart Seely, in Slate, transforms excerpts from the Alaska governor's interview transcripts into verse. Check out "Good and Evil": It is obvious to me / ...

An Outsider Becomes Poet Laureate
An Outsider Becomes Poet Laureate
Jul 17, 2008 7:54 AM CDT

An Outsider Becomes Poet Laureate

Kay Ryan, master of introverted verse, takes the national stage

(Newser) - Kay Ryan, a poet from Fairfax, Calif., with a reputation as an individualist, has been chosen as the nation's new poet laureate. The 62-year-old writer is known for her sly, concise verse that incorporates plays on words and uses intricate rhyme structures. Despite receiving many of the field's highest accolades,...

Astronomers Trace Homer's Wandering Hero

Experts tie Odysseus' return to Ithaca with real eclipse in 1178

(Newser) - Homer's Odyssey is 2,700 years old, and the events it describes happened centuries earlier. But two scientists claim in a new paper that they've traced one line in the epic poem—a possible reference to an eclipse—to a real astronomical event. Classicists might take issue, writes the New ...

Bored at Work? Site Disguises Classic Lit

Readatwork.com lets you fool the boss

(Newser) - Business world got you down? Want to escape into a classic poem or short story? The New Zealand Book Council has made a website to help you: ReadatWork.com. The site brings up a fake Windows desktop with folders and PowerPoint files, the Wall Street Journal reports. Click on them,...

Cambridge Poetry Students Analyze This

Notorious partier-songwriter's lyrics compared to 16th Century poem

(Newser) - Stodgy? Never! Cambridge University surprised its English students with an exam requesting literary analysis of Amy Winehouse lyrics last week. Students compared a poem by 16th century poet and ne’er-do-well adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh with Winehouse’s “Love is a Losing Game,” and songs by Bob Dylan...

Famously Bad Poet Fetches Big Bucks at Auction

Verses from the 'world's worst poet' fetch big bucks at auction

(Newser) - William McGonagall had a tough time after deciding poetry was his calling, being roundly insulted by critics and even pelted with rotten fruit. But the 19th-century Scotsman has been remembered long after his peers—as the worst poet ever to mangle the English language. His works commanded a price higher...

Burma's Pens Mightier Than Censors
Burma's Pens Mightier Than Censors
Feb 13, 2008 1:17 PM CST

Burma's Pens Mightier Than Censors

Info-starved population gets creative to bypass government's gags

(Newser) - Never shy about censorship, Burma has cracked down even more since September's monk uprising—no small event in a country that ranks 164th out of 168 on the Press Freedom Index. But information-starved citizens are finding creative ways to circumvent an extreme government that bans even benign news about soccer...

'I Don't Have Cancer,' Giuliani Reiterates

Presidential hopeful says he's 'perfectly healthy'

(Newser) - Rudy Giuliani sought to allay renewed concerns about his health today following his brief hospitalization last week. "I'm perfectly healthy. I don't have cancer," he said during a stop in Harlem. Giuliani, who checked into a St. Louis hospital because of a severe headache and flu symptoms, said...

Surrealist Simic Named Poet Laureate

15th national bard known for his dark humor and irony

(Newser) - Charles Simic, a surrealist poet whose style gleams with dark imagery and ironic humor, will be named the United States' 15th poet laureate today. The 69-year-old, who replaces fellow New Hampshirite Donald Hall, has published more than 20 volumes of poetry as well as essay collections, translations and a memoir.

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