Below are some recent posts from The Catbird Seat in the Division of Poetry and Literature at the Library of Congress. Enjoy!
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Literary Treasures: Margaret Atwood reads her poetry at the Library of Congress, 1970
by Anne Holmes on November 16, 2018 at 9:18 pm
The following post is part of our monthly series, “Literary Treasures,” which highlights audio and video recordings drawn from the Library’s extensive online collections, including the Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature. By showcasing the works and thoughts of some of the greatest poets and writers from the past 75 years, the series advances the […]
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The Bread, the Knife, and the Source of Billy Collins’s Poem “Litany”
by Peter Armenti on November 13, 2018 at 4:00 pm
As the poetry specialist in the Library’s Researcher and Reference Services Division, I receive my fair share of questions about U.S. poets laureate. Most often, people ask about the history of the laureateship, or about the activities of a particular laureate during his or her term. Very rarely, though, do I receive questions about specific […]
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Poetry of America: Denise Levertov and Gwendolyn Brooks
by Anne Holmes on November 8, 2018 at 4:33 pm
Here’s some good news for your Thursday: We’ve added two new recordings to our online “Poetry of America” series. Join Juan Felipe Herrera as he reads and discusses Denise Levertov’s poem “Making Peace,” and Patricia Spears Jones as she reads and discusses Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem “my dreams, my works, must wait till after hell.” The […]
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Imaginations of Her Own: Women Pioneers of Science Fiction
by Peter Armenti on October 31, 2018 at 2:00 pm
The following is a guest post by Megan Metcalf, a reference librarian in the Library’s Researcher and Reference Services Division. In 2018 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein turns 200, and readers everywhere, including here at the Library of Congress, are celebrating. While Frankenstein has enjoyed enduring popularity, what many don’t know is that this work from 1818 […]
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Keeping Up with the Laureate
by Anne Holmes on October 29, 2018 at 5:59 pm
The following guest post is by Rob Casper, head of the Poetry and Literature Center. These days, so much is going on with our Poet Laureate that it’s difficult for our office to keep up! I’m off to Maine in just a few days for the third trip in Tracy’s “American Conversations” fall tour. Our […]
