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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: poetry

poetry stories: 28 news summaries

1 - 20 of 28 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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poetic justice

 The Last Word in 
 Roman Polanski 
 Commentary 

Calvin Trillin: 'He only raped one little girl'

Oct 15, 09 1:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - The debate raging over Roman Polanski—hairsplitting over the definitions of guilt, genius, and rape, among other pertinent terms—has been missing one thing: verse. Veteran journalist and author Calvin Trillin dons his poet hat to take up the slack, devastatingly. His latest contribution to the Nation's "Deadline Poet"... More »

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crime • rape • fugitive • poetry • film director • Roman Polanski • Calvin Trillin • statutory rape

 Angelou Alive, 
 Well, Despite 
 Reports 

TMZ reports poet's illness, Twitterers add 'RIP'

Oct 5, 09 1:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - Contrary to reports by TMZ and scores of Tweets and re-Tweets, Maya Angelou is alive and well. The gossip site reported over the weekend that the poet missed a Los Angeles awards show because she had been hospitalized. In fact, she hadn't been invited to the presentation. The mix-up exhibited... More »

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social networking • literature • TMZ • poetry • Maya Angelou • Twitter

 Letters Reveal 
 Byron's Feud 
 With 'Turdsworth' 

Unpublished correspondence up for sale

Sep 28, 09 8:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - A collection of letters written by Lord Byron to a clergyman, some of them unpublished, sheds new light on the Romantic poet—who discloses his sexual escapades with servants and angry opinions of fellow writers. Several letters refer to a serving girl whom he took as his mistress; he dumped... More »

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Sotheby's • literature • letters • poetry • English literature • correspondence

OBITUARY

 Poet, Punk Rocker 
 Jim Carroll Dead at 60 

Won fame with The Basketball Diaries

Sep 14, 09 5:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - Poet and punk rocker Jim Carroll, 60, died of a heart attack Friday in his Manhattan home, the New York Times reports. Carroll is best known for The Basketball Diaries, a book about his experiences as a heroin-addicted basketball star in a New York City private school. A consummate New... More »

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obituary • poetry • Patti Smith • punk music • beatniks • Jim Carroll

 Shatner Graces 
 Conan With 
 More Palin 'Poetry' 

This time, drawn from her Twitter feed

Jul 30, 09 8:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - After realizing Sarah Palin’s incoherent resignation address was not actually a speech but rather poetry, Conan O’Brien started investigating her Twitter feed. “Some people have found her tweets to be a little rambling, confusing, and off-topic,” O’Brien said on last night’s Tonight Show,... More »

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entertainment • NBC • comedy • celebrity • late night talk show • Conan O'Brien • poetry • Tonight Show • William Shatner • Sarah Palin • Twitter

(Newser) - Sarah Palin’s farewell speech may have sounded like random meandering gibberish, but it was actually random meandering performance poetry, Conan O’Brien explained last night on NBC's Tonight Show. To celebrate her obvious gifts, he enlisted William Shatner for a Beat-style reading—and yes, it's as amazing as you... More »

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late night talk show • Conan O'Brien • poetry • Tonight Show • William Shatner • Sarah Palin

Lovesick Baker Becomes Celebrated Somali Poet

Bodheri won enduring legacy but not his lady love

Jun 21, 09 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Of all the bread joints in all the world, she had to walk into his, writes Gwen Thompkins for NPR, and that began Somalia’s greatest tale of love and heartbreak. In the 1930s, Elmi Bodheri was just a poor baker—until he glimpsed a girl named Hodhan. Never mind... More »

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Somalia • love • poetry • bakery

(Newser) - Britain's poet laureates have been criticized for writing about humdrum events on the royal calendar. If her first effort is any indication, the new laureate—the first woman—has no such intentions. Carol Ann Duffy is ticked off about the nation's scandal over lawmakers' expense accounts, and she lets everyone... More »

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politics • poet laureate • poetry • Britain • scandal • Carol Ann Duffy

 Slam Poetry Too 
 Mainstream: 
 Founder 

Once subversive art form now embraced nationwide

Jun 3, 09 12:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Slam poetry has ballooned from a grassroots movement to a national phenomenon—and its founder isn’t happy about it. “People just want to write what the last guy wrote so they can get their face on TV,” Marc Kelly Smith, who started the genre in Chicago 25... More »

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Barack Obama • Michelle Obama • poetry • Jay-ZTV • poetry slam • Marc Kelly Smith

Oxford Poetry Prof Resigns

First female to nab top post reverses earlier decision amid smear campaign accusations

May 25, 09 7:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - The first woman to hold one of the UK’s top poetry posts has reversed direction and announced her resignation amid accusations that she ran a smear campaign against a rival, the Telegraph reports. Ruth Padel stepped down as the Oxford Professor of Poetry today but maintained she acted in... More »

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sexual harassment • Oxford University • poetry • professor • Ruth Padel • Derek Walcott

Top UK Poetry Prof Refuses
to Step Down

Oxford academic in brouhaha over sex allegation against rival

May 24, 09 5:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - The first woman to hold Britain's highest academic post in poetry refuses to resign despite an uproar over whether she ran a dirty election campaign, reviving decades-old sexual harassment claims against her main rival, Nobel laureate Derek Walcott, the Guardian reports. Oxford Professor of Poetry-elect Ruth Padel admits she pointed... More »

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sexual harassment • Oxford University • poetry • professor • election





 Bob Dylan: Teen Plagiarist 


May 20, 09 12:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - Was the young Bob Dylan a plagiarist? A piece that Christie’s auction house has been touting as Dylan’s first known poem turns out to be the lyrics to a country song by the late Hank Snow, Reuters reports. A 16-year-old Dylan submitted the pilfered verses, which tell the... More »

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entertainment • music • plagiarism • Bob Dylan • Christie's • poetry • folk • lyrics • Jay-ZTV • Hank Snow

 White House Jams 
 to Spoken Word 

Theater, jazz, poetry collide in East Room event

May 13, 09 9:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - Spoken word, jazz, and theater took the White House by storm last night in what has been called the first presidential poetry jam, the Washington Post reports. “We're here to celebrate the power of words,” President Obama said, adding that his wife is his poet. The jam, Michelle... More »

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entertainment • music • theater • Michelle Obama • poetry • jazz • William Shakespeare • President Obama • Michael Chabon • Jay-ZTV • poetry slam • James Earl Jones • spoken word

At House Tonight / Obamas Plan / First-Ever Poetry Slam

Mayda Del Valle, ELEW among invitees

May 12, 09 3:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Check off another campaign promise. President Obama is hosting the White House’s first-ever poetry slam, part of his vow to open up “the people's house” to artists, WNBC-TV reports. The 100 guests include actor James Earl Jones, writer Michael Chabon, jazz musician Esperanza Spalding, and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda.... More »

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entertainment • Barack Obama • Michelle Obama • White House • literature • poetry • President Obama • Michael Chabon • Jay-ZTV • poetry slam • James Earl Jones • Esperanza Spalding • Lin-Manuel Miranda

(Newser) - Carol Ann Duffy and her 13-year-old daughter agreed it was time for a woman poet laureate in Britain, the Times of London reports. Widely expected to accept the post, Duffy, 53, agreed today to take over from incumbent Andrew Motion in the name of "great women poets ... like Alice... More »

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poet laureate • poetry • Carol Ann Duffy

(Newser) - Nicholas Hughes’ depression and eventual suicide were caused by the loss of his father in 1998, the Times reports. The younger Hughes and his father shared a special bond, and when Ted Hughes died, renowned fish biologist Nicholas “lost the relationship that mattered most to him,” a friend... More »

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suicide • depression • literature • poetry • Sylvia Plath • Ted Hughes • Nicholas Hughes

Sylvia Plath's Son Commits Suicide

46 years after she killed herself, Nicholas Hughes hangs himself

Mar 23, 09 9:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - The son of writers Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes committed suicide last week, hanging himself at his home in Fairbanks, Alaska, following a battle with depression, reports the Times of London. Nicholas Hughes, 47, was a professor of fisheries and ocean sciences but had recently left his position to take... More »

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suicide • Alaska • literature • poetry • English literature • Sylvia Plath • Ted Hughes

'To Be or Not to Be' No Longer the Question
for Poetry

Internet gives ancient art form a boost

Feb 28, 09 6:07 PM CST
(Newser) - Poetry is not going gently into that good night, having been energized by the very tool predicted to kill it: the Internet, reports the Telegraph. Email, social networking sites, and online media players are helping poets win over new audiences. “It’s counter-intuitive,” marveled poet Richard Price. Poetry... More »

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Internet • poetry • poem

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich probably didn’t help his case with his whirlwind media tour yesterday, “but he just might establish himself as an unofficial poet laureate of the criminal justice system,” Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post. Blago quoted Tennyson and Kipling all day, proclaimed his innocence,... More »

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The View • Dracula • Illinois • poetry • governor • Rod Blagojevich • political scandal • Rudyard Kipling • Dana Milbank

OPINION

 Sarah Palin, Accidental Poet 


Oct 2, 08 6:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - The past month has seen Sarah Palin become a vice presidential candidate, anti-feminist or feminist icon (depending on whom you ask) and ... a poet? Hart Seely, in Slate, transforms excerpts from the Alaska governor's interview transcripts into verse. Check out "Good and Evil": It is obvious to me / ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
GOP • poetry • Election 2008 • Sarah Palin • vice presidential candidate

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