Oct 22nd, 2004 · Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Anthony Hecht died Wednesday of lymphoma at his house in Washington, D.C. NPR's Michele Norris comments on his poetry, and we'll listen to a 2003 recording of Hecht reading from his own work. (Editors note: The audio for this segment has been edited from the broadcast version due to rights issues)
Oct 11th, 2004 · Our political poets, Calvin Trillin and James Bowman, offer their take on Friday night's town hall-style presidential debate. Trillin is the author of Obliviously On He Sails: The Bush Administration in Rhyme. Bowman is a resident scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington.
Oct 6th, 2004 · Our resident political poets, Calvin Trillin and James Bowman, offer their take on last night's vice presidential debate. Trillin is the author of Obliviously On He Sails: The Bush Administration in Rhyme. Bowman is a resident scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington.
Sep 23rd, 2004 · The acclaimed HBO series begins its third season. Simon is the show's creator and executive producer. Simon was a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun who moved to television and wrote for the show Homicide: Life on the Street. Pelecanos is a D.C.-based crime novelist who now writes for TV and film. Esquire magazine calls him "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world."
Sep 20th, 2004 · Humorist Brian McConnachie presents what we might hear if confirming nominees for poet laureate was as rigorous as accepting a new CIA chief. The senators grill the nominee with tests of his rhyming abilities.
Sep 13th, 2004 · In 1927, poet Carl Sandburg published The American Songbag, a collection of traditional music. Singer-guitarist Dan Zanes brings the music back in his new CD, Parades and Panoramas.
Aug 28th, 2004 · In the final installment of our summer series of poetry readings from the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival at Hillstead Museum in Connecticut, we hear a poem by Kate Rushin, author of "The Black Back-ups."
Aug 17th, 2004 · From the Bishop's School in La Jolla, Calif., NPR's Fred Child welcomes pianist Naida Cole during SummerFest 2004. She plays the Mephisto Waltz No. 1 by Liszt, a work based on poet Nicholas Lenau's version of the Faust legend.