Wyandot poet, folklorist, and civil servant Bertrand Nicholas Oliver Walker (1870-1927), often used his Wyandot (or Wyandotte) name, Hen-Toh, in his published poetry and prose that relayed indigenous legends and stories. Literary Papers of Wyandot Poet Hen-Toh Bookmarked Tales of the Bark Lodges by Hen-Toh Yon-doo-shah-we-ah (Nubbins) by Hen-Toh Hen-Toh in The Oglala Light newspaper Portrait of…
Ruth Muskrat image set Ruth Muskrat newspaper articles More Ruth Muskrat historical newspaper coverage Read a Speech by a Native American Activist from the Early 1920s PBS Roadshow Ruth Muskrat’s Speech to President Coolidge, December 13, 1923 Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke Alumna Embraced Both Parts of Her Cultural Identity Alumnae Association…
On June 19, 2019, Joy Harjo was appointed the 23rd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. On making the appointment, Dr. Hayden said: Joy Harjo has championed the art of poetry—‘soul talk’ as she calls it—for over four decades. To her, poems are ‘carriers of dreams, knowledge and wisdom,’ and through…
Louise Glück is an award-winning American poet—2020 Nobel Prize for Literature, the 2014 National Book Award, 1993 Pulitzer Prize, and 1992 Bobbitt Prize, among others—who also served as a Special Bicentennial Consultant from 1999-2000 and the U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry from 2003-2004 at the Library of Congress. Event video recordings Louise Glück Reads…
Natasha Trethewey black-and-white portrait & brief bio Chris Wallace interviews Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry Natasha Trethewey photo Natasha Trethewey bio & select poems Poetry foundation Domestic Work, 1937 by Natasha Trethewey Videos Inaugural Reading of Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey 2012 Natasha Trethewey Presents Final Lecture as Poet Laureate 2014 Conversation with Rosanne Cash &…
Tracy K. Smith was appointed the Library’s 22nd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry on June 14, 2017 and began serving on September 13, 2017. Her mission the Library’s chief poet is to bring poetry to rural areas. “I wanted to go into the more rural communities that don’t have programming on a consistent basis, where…
The article, In a Lost Essay, a Glimpse of an Elusive Poet and Slave (The New York Times Sept. 25, 2017), tells the intriguing story of the discovery of a primary source text by Jonathan Senchyne, an assistant professor of book history at the University of Wisconsin. The essay, “Individual Influence” by North Carolina slave and poet George…
Billy Collins served as the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001-2003 and then as New York State Poet Laureate from 2004-2006. Collins is the author of 11 books of poetry and was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2016. Integrating Tech: Poetry 180 a project of U.S. U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins Video…
Award-winning poet Stanley Kunitz was born in 1905 in Worcester, Massachusetts and died in 2006. Kunitz authored 12 poetry collections, one of which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1959 and another, which won the National Book Award in 1995; other honors include a National Medal of Arts, the Bollingen Prize, and the Robert Frost Medal. Kunitz also twice served…
Gabriela Mistral was born as Lucila Godoy Alcayaga in Vicuña, Chile in 1889. She is the author of over twelve books of poetry and was the first Hispanic writer awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Mistral also worked as an educator and a diplomat. Learn more about this passionate poet by investigating the resources below. Gabriela Mistral reading…
Poet Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Dickinson seldom left home but she read a lot, exchanged letters with many people, and spent a great deal of time with her family—her sister Lavinia also lived at home her entire life and her brother Austin and his wife lived next door. Learn more…
Poet Pablo Neruda was born as Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto in Parral, Chile in 1904. He is the author of more than fifty books, mostly of poetry and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. Learn more about this wondrous wordsmith by investigating the resources below. Pablo Neruda reading his poem, Alturas de Macchu Picchu June 20,…