Slam poetry was born in the Green Mill Tavern, a one-time Chicago speakeasy where Al Capone imbibed, when a construction worker and poet named Marc Smith revolutionized poetry readings with an Uptown Poetry Slam in 1986. Slam borrows heavily from the rhythms and wordplay of rap and hip-hop, as well as the stream of consciousness and metaphysical…

Phil Ochs was a prominent topical songwriter and singer in the 1960s. He was conventionally considered second only to Bob Dylan in terms of popularity, creativity and influence in the specific genre of contemporary folk music commonly known as "protest music." Whereas Dylan successfully reinvented himself many times in terms of his musical style…

In many classrooms, poetry is shoved to the neglected edge of language arts, out of the bright core of content that may (should) include grammar, vocabulary, and strong literature. If time permits, a class may read a few poems and discuss them from a so-called "interpretive" point of view. All of this takes place in the context of an apparent…

In this article, the author presents a profile of Nikki Grimes, award-winning poet and author of children's books. Grimes spent much of her childhood in and out of foster homes, where she discovered that reading provided a much-needed escape. This love of reading eventually led also to a love of writing. Having no formal training as a poet, Grimes…

This article presents an interview with poet Helen Frost. Frost talked about how poetry can help at-risk children. She also related the challenges she faced when she wrote her latest book titled "The Braid."

Asking the question "What Is Poetry?" these essays seek out the art of true poetry--differentiating between facile novelty and genuine originality; asserting the poet's ability to question and lay bare reality; and demonstrating the subtle power of language in the "fruitful ambiguities" of its most ordinary parts, such as the…

The purpose of this essay and bibliography is to present a review of criticism of poet Charlotte Mew. The essay synthesizes the salient critical comments under the topics of historical context, language, obscurity, biography, distancing, religion and philosophy, technique, and male/female issues. It draws conclusions as to the comprehensiveness of…

Paul Zimmer's latest poetry collection, "The Great Bird of Love," is serious and somber, fraught with the burden of evil, the indifference of God, and the certainty of death. The book is not humorless, however, as humor is central to both the chaotic evil and the ordered goodness of human life. It is in this collection that it is…

The aim of these pages is to provide some perspective on Project Zero's recent work, updating earlier accounts which have appeared in the Journal of Aesthetic Education and elsewhere. (Author)

Poems written by Anna Akhmatova, the major woman writer in Russia in the first half of the twentieth century, are presented and discussed in this paper. In a brief overview of Akhmatova's work, it is noted that she was vitally concerned with the expression of her experience as a woman poet and a lover, and that she portrayed both male lovers and…

Examines some themes in the work of the African surrealist poet, Aime Cesaire. The elements in his poetry are found in the natural world. Filled with tension, his work demonstrates cultural liberation, independence and dignity, and the desire to reclaim nature, salvation, God, and peace. (BJV)

A fictional (perhaps) description of the authors' experience as a visiting poet to a tough class. (CRH)

Describes two poetry models that encourage the students to begin writing with the literal facts--the concrete--and allow the more abstract meaning to emerge from there. (CRH)

Article considers the forms of poetry and painting found in the talents of artists, such as Pound and Kandinsky. (RK)