Independence Day: Let America be America again
In a time when demagogues try to convince us that America needs to be "great again," Hughes reminds us of the dream of what America could be.
This week in women’s history: Poet-novelist-activist Marge Piercy turns 80
Piercy has written 17 novels, including bestsellers, and 19 volumes of poetry.
Remembering poet, Spanish Civil War vet Ramon Durem
Although of mixed heritage, he identified as African American, and his poems impacted the Black Power movement as a cultural inspiration.
Today in history: Chilean communist poet Pablo Neruda wins Nobel Prize
Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature "for a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams."
Hispanic Heritage Month: A Costa Rican poet honors Carlos Bulosan
Carlos Sampayan Bulosan (1913-1956) was a class-conscious English-language Filipino novelist and poet.
Today in history: "BaddDDD" black poet Sonia Sanchez is born
Since the 1970s Sanchez has published a steady stream of poetry books and plays.
Today in history: Fidel turns 89, poem by Che
"If iron stands in our way, we ask for a sheet of Cuban tears to cover our guerrillas bones on the journey to American history . . . "
"15 and a Union, Someday," a villanelle
This poem is a villanelle, a form of poetry that traces its humble roots to the Italian countryside and peasants singing rounds during the harvest.
