Poets & Writers Theater

“When I sit down, I invite that muse, that ardor, that passion to get to some place of discovery.” In this preview for the season four premiere of the public television series Poetry in America, poets Richard Blanco and Amanda Gorman, among other writers and scholars, join host Elisa New to discuss two poems by pioneering Black poet Phillis Wheatley. Watch the full episode here.

“blood tells the story,” reads Evie Shockley from her poem “you can say that again, billie” discussed in this PBS Books conversation about the history of racism, violence, and artistic tradition in the American South with historian Robin D. G. Kelley, actress LisaGay Hamilton, and professor Elisa New, director and host of the Poetry in America television series.

“How do you take the nightmares and dreams and put them onto paper?” asks Julie Taymor in this trailer for the second season of Poetry in America featuring interviews with Marilyn Chin, Katie Couric, Elena Kagan, John Kerry, Maxine Hong Kingston, and others. Created and directed by Harvard professor Elisa New, each episode explores and interprets a single American poem.

“They taste good to her / They taste good / to her. They taste / good to her...” Rafael Campo reads William Carlos Williams’s poem “To a Poor Old Woman” and speaks with Elisa New about enjambments, plums, and empathy for Poetry in America.

“Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand / A mighty woman with a torch...” Singer-songwriter Regina Spektor recites Emma Lazarus’s 1883 sonnet “The New Colossus,” and chats with Poetry in America television series host Elisa New about the value of poetry.

“It’s what poetry can do—it can take us to other places, in a moment.” Cynthia Nixon and other cultural figures including Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Biden, Sonia Sanchez, Shaquille O’Neal, Edward Hirsch, and Bono are featured in this trailer for the public television series Poetry in America. Hosted by Harvard professor Elisa New, each episode explores and interprets a single American poem.

In this Poetry in America video, hip-hop artist Nas sits down with Elisa New, professor of American Literature at Harvard University, to discuss his approach to writing and break down his lyrics. Poetry in America, created and directed by New, is a multi-platform initiative that encourages the spread of poetry through classes, conversations, and digital outreach.

Allen Ginsberg’s anti-war poem “Hum Bom!” is read by Bono and then discussed by U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera and Harvard professor Elisa New. New is the creator of Poetry in America, a multi-platform digital initiative that offers professional development classes for educational practitioners, as well as free online poetry courses.