AUDIO: ‘Asterisk: A Glyph’: A Forceful Poem About Why ‘Forsaken People … Turn Athletes Into Gods’
Feb 17, 2016 Hakim Bellamy, Albuquerque's first poet laureate, writes a series of questions about reactions to the tennis star Serena Williams that will echo in your mind for days on end.
AUDIO: ‘Juggling Excess and Imbalance in a Time of Drones’: The Unequal Equations of Our Time
Feb 3, 2016 Amy Uyematsu's poem, inspired by Juan Felipe Herrera's “Fuzzy Equations," is a powerful litany of expressions that get to the heart of our modern age.
A Rare Victory for Freedom of Speech in Turkey, as Pianist Is Allowed to Quote Omar Khayyam
Dec 29, 2015 In a win for freedom of speech in Turkey, the country’s Supreme Court of Appeals has completely overturned a lower court ruling that sentenced world-famous pianist Fazil Say to a suspended sentence of 10 months in prison.
The Best Truthdig Poetry of 2015
Dec 21, 2015 Here are the 10 poems that readers liked best from our very own original political poetry series, inaugurated this year. Here are the 10 poems that readers liked best from our very own original political poetry series, inaugurated this year.
In Dark Times, Poetry Can Enlighten Us
Dec 17, 2015 Artists are coming together to commemorate victims of violence and create bridges between America and the Middle East.
Gov. Jerry Brown Names Dana Gioia, Former Chairman of the NEA, California Poet Laureate
Dec 14, 2015 The California governor announced earlier this month that Dana Gioia would take over the Golden State post, replacing Juan Felipe Herrera, who recently became U.S. poet laureate.
AUDIO: ‘What War Is Good For’: A Painful Indictment of What Has Now Become the American Way
Nov 25, 2015 Jay Sizemore's poem ponders why the U.S. is involved in war after war, a question that becomes increasingly relevant as the country continues interfering in the Middle East.
AUDIO: ‘Where There Is Rust’: A Timely Poem About Knowledge in an Age of Deceptive Discourse
Nov 11, 2015 "Let this inform you how/ to be informed" begin Peter Burzynski's scathing couplets on critical thinking at a time when misinformation floods our daily lives.
AUDIO: ‘Thin Ice’: A Poem About Motherhood in the Age of Climate Change
Oct 28, 2015 Penelope Moffet's poem, based on a Los Angeles Times article that narrates the story of a polar bear who loses her infant cub as she swims hundreds of miles to reach the nearest ice floe in an ever-melting Arctic sea, beautifully illustrates the effects of the man-made destruction of the natural world.
‘The Inheritance of Trauma’: A Poem Explores How Suffering Leaves a Mark on Future Generations
Oct 14, 2015 Based on a study that posits that the children of Holocaust survivors may inherit genes altered by their parents' trauma, Megan Collins' poem beautifully ponders how to live with the tragic fact that "blood remembers blood."
