Former UK Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, calls for teaching a wider range of poetry in classrooms as well as putting the focus back on listening to and performing poems.

However, he added: “If we give our students only one kind of poetry to read, a kind they immediately recognise, it would be like taking someone to a palace, parking them at the door and telling them to go no further.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Writing in EducationNews.org, Robert Oliphant considers the growth possiblities of Poetry Out Loud. Here is a snippet:

Practically considered, what Poetry Out Loud offers its participants is an easy-to-copy access list of established ready-to-memorize targets to choose from, along with biographical information on each poet. To use a Chaucerian phrase, it’s as close to Goddes foyson (plenty) as any learner would want

Read the article here
http://www.educationnews.org/commentaries/21599.html

Check out these two recent articles in the Huffington Post about the state of poetry today and how Poetry Out Loud is helping to keep poetry alive.

Is poetry dead? In this article, Michael Koenigs describes ways he tries to make poetry relevant to high school students.

Launched in 2006 and following in the footsteps of the National Spelling Bee, Poetry Out Loud empowers students to learn and build confidence through academic competition…Such bold and well-funded initiatives restore my faith that the plug has not yet been pulled on poetry.

Are we afraid of poetry? Kim Rosen talks about the state of poetry in the US and the world and signs of a public poetry resurgence.

Finally, it seems, we are rising from the sick-bed of Metrophobia, and returning to poetry. Signs of health begin to accrue. Hundreds of thousands of teens throughout the U. S. choose to learn classical and modern poems by heart and practice together for Poetry Out Loud, a national recitation competition.

In theaters today is Jane Campion’s new film, Bright Star, an account of John Keats’ young love affair with his neighbor and muse, Fanny Brawne. The title of the movie is taken from Keats’ poem, “Bright Star”, which was written for Fanny. Continue reading »

The UK’s Telegraph has an excerpt from the new book, The American Civil War, by the military historian John Keegan.  It speaks of the suffering of soldiers during the Civil War and Walt Whitman’s role in taking care of them.   Continue reading »