Features

ribbon-like arrangement of fall leaves on a table with a votive candle and Give Thanks handwritten in script

Poems of Thanksgiving

November 21, 2018
In the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Thanksgiving holiday, we offer you a moment (well, six moments, actually) of reflection on gratitude. Click on the poem's title to read the full text. "Give praise with the immense and peaceful sigh/ Of the wind in the pinewoods,/ At night give praise...
Collage of Goldie Goldbloom's author photo with bookcover of The Paperbark Show

NEA Big Read Author Goldie Goldbloom on Bullying, Writing in the Bathtub, and Books

November 14, 2018
Goldie Goldbloom—NEA Creative Writing Fellow and new NEA Big Read author—grew up in Western Australia. On her family farm in the country’s rural outback, her grandparents hosted Italian prisoners of war during World War II, which inspired Goldbloom to write her award-winning novel, The Paperbark...
quote by Siobhan Fallon

#TuesdayThought: Writer Siobhan Fallon on Art as Work

November 13, 2018
"Art busts its butt. It's not all about inspiration and bursts of genius. There aren't little cobbler fairies who come in the middle of the night and write your stories/novels for you." — Siobhan Fallon Read our interview with Siobhan Fallon on war stories and the women who write them here .
diptych of Tim O'Brien headshot with cover of The Things They Carried

Notable Quotables: Tim O'Brien on the Power of Telling Stories

November 8, 2018
Nearly 30 years ago Tim O'Brien published his novel The Things They Carried , about the experience of being a foot soldier in the Vietnam War. As described for the NEA Big Read library, The Things They Carried is "part memoir, part fiction and O'Brien—the original master of truthiness—wishes you...
a stack of new Big Read books in a garden setting

Falling in Love with New Books for the #NEABigRead

October 22, 2018
Each year, the National Endowment for the Arts assembles a committee of readers around the country to discuss and recommend books to add to the NEA Big Read library . Who are these readers? Booklovers for sure, but also community organizers—such as prior NEA Big Read grantees—who can speak to the...
Meg Day. Photo courtesy of Ms. Day

#Flashback Friday: Art Talk with NEA Literature Fellow Meg Day

October 19, 2018
"I like to think we’re all striving for that moment when we’ve gotten it right enough that we, as artists, stop working and the art, itself, starts instead.” — Meg Day A 2013 NEA Creative Writing Fellow in Poetry, Meg Day is not only a talented poet, but a fiery arts educator and an activist. Her...
design version of quote by Mary Oliver

#ThursdayThought: Mary Oliver

October 18, 2018
"Poetry isn't a profession, it's a way of life. It's an empty basket; you put your life into it and make something out of that." — Mary Oliver Has your high school signed up for Poetry Out Loud yet? Visit poetryoutloud.org to find out how your school can participate in this dynamic poetry...
designed version of quote by John Green

Notable Quotable: John Green on the Power of Books

October 17, 2018
"Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book." — John Green Visit our Facebook page and let us know what book you just can't live...
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Poetry

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Poetry!

October 11, 2018
Click on the title of each poem to read it in full. And visit poets.org to browse a much wider selection of poems in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. "One day I will write you a letter/ after I have gathered enough words/ that blossom without thorns..."-- from "gathering words" by María Luisa...
Woman with long wavy hair

Talking Music & Miracles with NEA Translation Fellow Anna Deeny Morales

October 10, 2018
Anna Deeny Morales came to literary translation through fortuitous circumstances that would change the course of her career. While studying the relationship between 20th-century U.S. and Latin American poets for her dissertation, she was invited by faculty to translate several poems by Chilean poet...

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