We have a motto at Naropa: “Keep the world safe for poetry.” It’s humorous but has some real bite to it. If the world is safe for poetry, it can be safe for many other things.
–Anne Waldman
What She Said, April 5: Anne Waldman
Katie Riegel
Poet, writer, editor, teacher, blogger, mentor, meditator.
What She Said, February 28: Pamela Sneed
“all over the world wars
people plagued
by the same ills as their oppressor
the real revolution is
to love myself.”
–Pamela Sneed
What She Said, February 27: Allison Joseph
“I like to see where my own life intersects or diverges from notions of what a teenager is supposed to be, or what a black personn is supposed to be, or a woman.” –Allison Joseph
What She Said, February 26: Toi Derricotte
“To be published as a ‘woman of color’ makes me squiggle on a pin: I want to be read by white people, and not just white people who are interested in ‘black’ writing. I want even my speaking about color to speak in some universal way.” –Toi Derricotte
What She Said, February 25: Tracy K. Smith
“I shut my ears, averted my eyes, turning instead to what I thought at the time was pain’s antidote: silence. I was wrong… Silence feeds pain, allows it to fester and thrive. What starves pain, what forces it to release its grip, is speech, the voice upon which rides the story, this is what happened; this is what I have refused to let claim me.” –Tracy K. Smith
What She Said, February 24: Natasha Trethewey
“I have always loved the feel of books, the way they give a literal weight to words and make of them a sacred object.” –Natasha Tretheway
On Purpose: Work, Religion, and Community
I used to be a priest in the Church of Poetry. I had 60-80 parishioners per semester, mostly young people with varying dedication to Poetry. Some entered the classroom having only worshipped […]
What She Said, February 23: Marilyn Nelson and Tonya C. Hegamin
“I had a lot of hatred, but I realized that kind of hate didn’t do much.
I had to start feuling myself with pride. We owe the ancestors that. So many of the souls who died ion bondage just want us to recognize their struggle.” –Marilyn Nelson and Tonya C. Hegamin
What She Said, February 22: Nikki Giovanni
“A lot of people refuse to do things because they don’t want to go naked, don’t want to go without guarantee. But that’s what’s got to happen. You go naked until you die.” –Nikki Giovanni
Time to Redefine Ourselves
In a time unprecedented during the 50 plus years of my life, I am trying, again, to redefine myself. Or I am still trying to redefine myself, despite the pandemic and the […]
The Gloria Sirens 