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Maya Angelou poetry National Poetry Month astronomy space Carl Sagan The Universe in Verse Janna Levin lit history and literature science and technology science

We, this people, on this small and drifting planet
Whose hands can strike with such abandon
That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living
Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness
That the haughty neck is happy to bow
And the proud back is glad to bend
Out of such chaos, of such contradiction
We learn that we are neither devils nor divines

Happy National Poetry Month! Celebrate with this stunning reading of Maya Angelou’s “A Brave and Startling Truth” – one of the most beautiful and profound poems ever written – a cosmic clarion call to humanity, inspired by Carl Sagan.

Full poem text, and the story behind it, here.

Janna Levin Ursula K. Le Guin National Poetry Month poetry lit time physcis science and technology history and literature science

Time says ‘Let there be’
every moment and instantly
there is space and the radiance
of each bright galaxy.
And eyes beholding radiance.
And the gnats’ flickering dance.
And the seas’ expanse.
And death, and chance.

On the final day of National Poetry Month, hear astrophysicist Janna Levin read Ursula K. Le Guin’s sublime “Hymn to Time.”

Janna Levin Adrienne Rich poetry National Poetry Month feminism science and technology science

Astrophysicist Janna Levin reads “Planetarium” – Adrienne Rich’s timeless tribute to women in astronomy. Poem text and context here.

Performed at The Universe in Verse – a celebration of science through poetry, and a fundraising protest against the silencing of science and the defunding of the arts.

science women in science feminism Amanda Palmer Neil Gaiman lit Maria Popova Pioneer Works poetry National Poetry Month

Amanda Palmer reads Neil Gaiman’s feminist poem about science, composed especially for and recorded at The Universe in Verse. Full context, backstory, and poem text here.

science resist politics protest Save the NEA science and technology Amanda Palmer Rosanne Cash Maria Popova Tracy K. Smith Sarah Jones Jad Abumrad Humans of New York Diane Ackerman Elizabeth Alexander Janna Levin Tavi Gevinson Sam Beam poetry National Poetry Month

Monday, April 24, in Brooklyn: The Universe in Verse – an evening of poems celebrating great scientists and scientific discoveries, read by beloved actors, writers, and musicians (including Rosanne Cash, Amanda Palmer, Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York, Tavi Gevinson, Jad Abumrad of Radiolab, Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, astrophysicist Janna Levin, poet Elizabeth Alexander, and more) – essentially an elaborate protest against the defunding of science and the arts: All proceeds from tickets are being donated to the Academy of American Poets and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

More information here.

Please help spread the word.

Wendell Berry poetry National Poetry Month lit advice history and literature thought and opinion

Make a place to sit down.
Sit down. Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection, reading, knowledge,
skill — more of each
than you have — inspiration,
work, growing older, patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity.

On this last day of National Poetry Month, the wise and wonderful Wendell Berry – one of the greatest poets of our time – on how to be a poet and a complete human being.

Seamus Heaney poetry National Poetry Month lit reading history and literature

The late and great Seamus Heaney, who would’ve been 77 today, reads his poem “The Death of a Naturalist.” Complement with his magnificent Nobel Prize acceptance speech and his abiding advice to the young.

Mark Strand Roz Chast National Poetry Month art and design lit posters history and literature culture and society comics

Roz Chast’s magnificent poster for National Poetry Month, using lines from a poem by the late and great Mark Strand.

Strand, who died last December, was a genius. For example.

Couple with Chast’s illustrated memoir, one of the best books of 2014.

Denise Levertov Ohara Hale poetry National Poetry Month art and design comics illustration

Six rare recordings of Denise Levertov’s poetry readings at the 92Y, illustrated by artist Ohara Hale as six-panel “visual haikus”

Richard Feynman Earth Day science and technology science culture and society poetry National Poetry Month evolution religion

Happy Earth Day! Celebrate with Richard Feynman’s wonderful poem on the glory of evolution

Mary Oliver Wendy MacNaughton poetry National Poetry Month lit history and literature thought and opinion

For National Poetry Month, Mary Oliver on the mystery of the human psyche, the secret of great poetry, and how rhythm makes us come alive.

Excerpt illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton.

Maya Angelou children's books art and design history and literature lit Basquiat poetry National Poetry Month

Happy birthday, Maya Angelou! Celebrate with her little-known and lovely children’s verses about fear and courage, illustrated by Basquiat.

National Poetry Month W.H. Auden poetry history and literature lit 92Y

For National Poetry Month, a fun homework assignment from W.H. Auden, dusted off from the hidden gem that is 92nd Street Y Poetry Center archive, which also gave us this fantastic Susan Sontag recording.

advice history and literature poetry National Poetry Month lit lists writing

1. Read, read read! Classic poems for children and adults, books about poetry. Never trust anyone who writes more than he or she reads. Even if you want to write free verse, learn verse forms and metrics until your eyes glaze over. You can break those rules, but only after you have learned them first.

2. Make a dictionary your best friend, no matter how geeky that sounds. Most children will speak only one language in their lifetimes, so why not make your fluency in that language as masterful as you can.

3. If you say you want to be a writer (prose or poetry), I applaud you. The next words out of your mouth should be, “But I promise to be a rewriter!” I don’t even know why we use the word “writer.” All the great writers in the world have been rewriters. So buy yourself a big wastebasket, and keep it filled.

Advice to aspiring poets from J. Patrick Lewis, the current United States children’s poet laureate.

Pair with H. P. Lovecraft’s advice to aspiring writers and Ezra Pound’s list of don'ts for budding poets.