Governor John Bel Edwards appointed Jack B. Bedell as Louisiana’s poet laureate in 2017; if that decision is reflective of all of his others during his time in office, he’ll go down in history as one of Louisiana’s best. This... Read More

Sit next to me, Brian Swann. Be my companion. I sense in you what’s missing from my life: a voice of reason, tranquility, unmistakable originality. The author of all manner of work—anthologies of Native American literature,... Read More

Something thoughtful this way comes—sensible, humble, and historically grounded. Lorna Knowles Blake’s "Green Hill" is reassurance of the poet’s essential duty to speak plainly and truthfully. Now the author of two collections... Read More

When a poem causes you a wince of discomfort, chances are that it’s the poet who let down her defenses and revealed a psychic wound. Such vulnerability is powerful. You feel for the poet, and such feelings are what make us best as... Read More

Our president would like us to believe Mexicans are rapists, Libyans are terrorists, and a wall on the southern border will solve all our problems. His goal is to dehumanize brown- and black-skinned people, and his millions of supporters... Read More

The vein of greatness that pulses through the work of Ada Limón is remarkably subtle, in the same way that beauty in a human isn’t a rote assemblage of chiseled noses, high cheekbones, and full lips. Her extraordinary poems act the... Read More

What the world needs is more whimsy. More collage with colored paper, pussy bows, peacock feathers, and sticky tape to keep the whole together. Yes, whimsy—in this case, in a picture book shape, featuring a preening poet playing make... Read More

Gritty, raw, liberated, and twisted into lines of beauty, Emma Bolden’s melancholic realizations mostly relate to her body and her hysterectomy. With multiple collections and an assortment of works in publication, it is no surprise... Read More