LGBT Pride Poems, Mark Doty on Walt Whitman, Allen Ginsberg, and More

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend June 3, 2015 June Is LGBT Pride Month   In honor of National LGBT Pride Month, we offer a roundup of poems about love, friendship, and equality.    “Queer” by Frank Bidart “Langston Blue” by Jericho Brown  “The Embrace” by Mark Doty  “The Black Unicorn” by Audre Lorde  “from Life in a Box is a Pretty Life”  by Dawn Lundy Martin  “If a Wilderness” by Carl Phillips  “Blue” by May Swenson

Down the American River   Allen Ginsberg was born eighty-nine years ago today. In tribute to this groundbreaking poet, take a look at our collection of ephemera, including archival photographs, a historic recording of the poet reading from “Howl,” a video of him singing “A Western Ballad,” and a sprawling essay that only he could write on Leaves of Grass.  Our Sly Progenitor   In his new essay “Our Sly Progenitor,” just published on Poets.org, Mark Doty explores the often overlooked qualities of the poetry of Walt Whitman, the quintessential American bard and father of free verse.  Stay hip to the scene and read our “Brief Guide to the Beat Poets.” Watch Lambda Award Winner Richard Blanco deliver the Blaney Lecture. Celebrate pride and explore the rich tradition of LGBTQ poetry by visiting Poets.org. 2015 Summer Reading Series   Join us this summer for free poetry readings at the New York Public Library. On July 14 at 6 p.m. we’ll host readings by Meena Alexander, Ross Gay, and January Gill O’Neil. And, on August 11 at 6 p.m., join us to hear Parneshia Jones, Joan Larkin, and Patrick Phillips read their poems. Marilyn Hacker on Translation   How true should the translator be to the original when translating a poem into another language? Marilyn Hacker explores this question, among others, in this conversation about translation from Poets Forum 2014.   “Poetry is above all a concentration of the power of language, which is the power of our ultimate relationship to everything in the universe. ” —Adrienne Rich, Academy of American Poets Chancellor, 1999–2001   Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038

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