The Poetry Coalition, a group of 25 different national poetry organizations dedicated to promoting the value of poetry, launched their third annual program initiative this month called, “What Is It, Then, Between Us?: Poetry & Democracy.”
As part of the month-long program, the Academy of American Poets in New York City chose poets Pádraig Ó Tuama, Richard Blanco, Tom Sleigh, Brenda Hillman, and Solmaz Sharif to curate a series of poems every Saturday in March that explore the many facets of the First Amendment. read more…
In this episode of “The Village Voice” Jim and Margery discuss the themes of age and aging with poet Richard Blanco.
The discussion celebrates the recent publication of Blanco’s poem “My Father In English” in the New Yorker, and Blanco’s birthday on Feb. 15. read more…
Earlier this month, poet Mary Oliver — who won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and was for many years based in Provincetown, Mass., — died at the age of 83.
In Oliver’s poetry, communion with nature was often a catalyst for learning powerful truths or finding meaning in life, Blanco explained. read more…
Ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, poet Richard Blanco shared some of his favorite works engaging with Dr. King’s life and legacy.
Blanco read his poem “St. Louis: Prayer Before Dawn,” which discusses the social, political and economic disparities between two St. Louis neighborhoods, one predominantly white, and one predominantly black.
The poem includes references to prayers and Biblical passages, such as the Peace Prayer of St. Francis and Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, which Blanco said are a nod to King’s role as a pastor and activist. read more…
There’s more to holiday poetry than just “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” says poet Richard Blanco.
For that reason, in the latest edition of his regular poetry segment on Boston Public Radio, Blanco chose a few of his favorite holiday poems, but “not the ‘Christmas sweater’ version of poetry — something to make us reflect,” he said. read more…
Richard Blanco joined Boston Public Radio to share his favorite modern takes on classic poetry forms.
Blanco specifically chose to explore a form called the “pantoum” poem, which originated from Malaysia in the 1400s. Each consists of four-line stanzas where lines are methodically repeated. The effect is rhythmic and melodic, with the repeated lines taking on new meanings with each use.
“It’s kind of like a basketweave effect,” Blanco explained. read more…
In these poems, Blanco explained, television stands in as a way of engaging with larger themes like identity, companionship, and connecting with others.
“It’s not about TV,” he said. “It’s TV as an occasion to talk about something else.”
In his own piece “Afternoons as Endora,” for example, Blanco recalls seeing television — specifically, the outlandish and self-assured witch Endora from “Bewitched” — as a companion in a lonely childhood growing up gay in a hyper-masculine culture. read more…
For our bi-monthly segment of The Village Voice with Richard Blanco, we discuss poetry and how it can help us to better understand our lives and times — as we always do — this time ushering in National Hispanic Heritage Month which begins on Sept. 15.
This episode aired on Boston Public Radio on September 10, 2018.
