Read Emi Bergquist’s book review on The Beautiful Immunity by Karen An-Hwei Lee and explore what it means to be immune—not just in the biological sense, but in the spiritual, emotional, and linguistic realms.
This post features poems from each of the Headliners of the 13th Annual New York City Poetry Festival: Ilya Kaminsky, Safia Elhillo, Kazim Ali & Katie Farris.
Carve out some you-time and head down to this month’s PTW spot & give this Prompt a free write.
Although Black History Month is coming to a close, we must remember that the influence of Black art and culture in the poetry world and the world beyond deserves acknowledgment and utmost appreciation 24/7/365.
twenty-one ways to prosper as a child of a dying world | Clickbait is a blog designed to shamelessly attract attention to poetry. Using devices typically reserved for online “clickbait” like listicles, how-to’s, trending topics, SEO, hashtags, hyperlinks, hyperbole, sensationalism, puff, and fluff, the poets at The Poetry Society of New York are having a little fun.
In one of the essays of Joseph Brodsky, he declared that at certain periods of history, it might be only poetry that is capable of dealing with reality by condensing it into something graspable, something that otherwise couldn't be retained by the mind. In a moment like this, when sounds of sirens, voices for justice, cries of victims drum in our ears all at once, I believe alongside donating and speaking up, another thing we could do is to understand…
When I think of New York, I think of rain. It’s chasing a year since I spent time in the city working at The New York City Poetry Festival and still my freshest memories are of falling water. I can smell the dank subway on my way home from Central Park’s deep puddles; from a deli doorway on a quiet street I watched the city sink.
As the pandemic ravages the world, my plans to travel to Seattle, Wyoming, Austin, as well as back to Asia seem to have been postponed indefinitely. Looking back the past month, I realize that the only trip I’ve made was a 10 minute walk to the closest grocery store. Yet, within that 10 minute, I found I was feeling upset about not just the prospect of not being able to travel, but also I miss the “city” so much -- the New York bustling with life, news and videos of events happening all over the world.
Staying at home was alright at first. There was writing to catch up on, books to read, pets to keep us company, and a bountiful selection of movies to watch. Everything seemed good to go once we settled into it. Plus, we already had practiced social distancing as teenagers social distancing from our parents. But as time went on, this independence morphed into feelings of boredom and loneliness, not to mention it might have been time to brush our teeth.
A love token, the soft rose hue of rose quartz fosters tender energy of compassion, self-love, and forgiveness. Rose quartz is known for bringing about calming effects, reassurance, and strengthening empathy skills. This crystal is therefore perfect for dissolving emotional wounds and stimulating inward reflection to spur a poem that comes from the heart.
Robert Pinsky, former Poet Laureate of the United States and 2019 headliner of the New York City Poetry Festival recently had a chat with PSNY intern and University of Leeds PhD candidate, Lucy Cheseldine.The very fact of taking place is something to celebrate. To exceed existence or being, but only marginally. To dwell in our edges and crevices: the fold of a page, the frame of a canvas. Here, things happen. They happen because they begin to take on a strange, distinct life of their own, unplanned and voluptuous births seeping forth to make the shape of art.