Explore: Poetry

Tagged Poetry

Are You the Poetry 'Type'?

What if an entire community wrote one line each on a vintage Underwood Typewriter to create a really, really, long poem? Would it bring world peace? Would love abound? Would we become a united nation? One can hope, right? On April…

There's Poetry Everywhere!

Imagine this: Your friends, and your associates, and the people around you, and the environment that you live in, and the speakers around you, and the communicators around you are the poetry makers. If your mother tells you stories, she…

It's World Poetry Day!

When UNESCO declared March 21 World Poetry Day in 1999, they had in mind building connections through our oral and written traditions and finding commonality among the feelings and questions that make us human. What better way, in this…

10 New Year's Resolutions the Free Library Can Help You Keep!

'Tis the season for goal-setting! You might be feeling merry and motivated right now, but as the year gallops along, don't let your resolve wane. Lean on the Free Library to keep your resolutions! Our mission, of course is to…

Poetry Room: Listening through Reading

"How to Triumph Like a Girl" , a poem by the dynamic Ada Limón , won’t get out of my head (and I don’t want it to). I read it the day after the election and it stuck fast. I sent it to a few friends, read it…

How Well Do You Know Native American Authors Sherman Alexie and Louise Erdrich?

It’s National Native American Heritage Month and the Free Library of Philadelphia is celebrating by reading books by authors who write about their Native heritage. We’re especially enjoying works by Sherman Alexie and Louise…

Poetry Room: Joy and Grief in Poems

I wrote an essay for an anthology by poets on poetry a couple of years ago about owning one’s subject matter, taking responsibility for the themes that continually crop up, and stewarding and loving them, no matter that they might…

Patti Smith - Anything Is Possible

Patti Smith —poet, punk, and provocateur all rolled into one scorching soul, will be appearing at the Free Library this evening for a waaaaaaaay sold out Author Event to discuss her new book M Train . The book is a bit of a…

The Search for Philadelphia's Next Poet Laureate Is On!

For this installment of the Poetry Room, we're going to shift to the local. Philadelphia is looking for its next Poet Laureate ! Supported via the Mayor's Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy, the search is on now…

Poetry Room: Weirdness and Off-the-wall Poems and Poets

Welcome to Poetry Room blog post #2. Remember the whole “poetry is weird and difficult and often written with seemingly hidden clues designed to stymie the average reader” theme from our last post ? Let's talk more…

Three Book Award Winners for Children to Check Out

Three Award Winners to Check Out You might ask your dentist to recommend a good toothpaste, buy a sneaker endorsed by a professional basketball player or pick a veterinarian-approved pet food for your fuzzy best friend. Likewise, if you…

Poets and Poetry: A Monthly Blog Series

Poetry is weird. It's that dull thing about a lark or a road your high school teacher made you memorize. It's a bunch of words strung together in such a way to make you feel not-so-bright. It's what you feel a little bad…

Edgar Allan Poetry

Looking out the window across the city on a rainy and dreary day, my mind always turns to Poe. What better author to shine a creepy candlelight on at this time of year than Edgar Allan Poe ? The Master of Macabre, the Grand Guignol of…

Apply today to be Philadelphia's next Poet Laureate!

The search for the next Poet Laureate for the City of Philadelphia is on! Are you an enthusiastic, established poet who lives in the city and wishes to be an ambassador for the art form? Do you know someone who is? Applications are…

Spine Poetry Photo Shoot

Teen Tuesday celebrated National Poetry Month with a Spine Poetry Photo Shoot. Let's see your spine poems!

Preschool Poetry

April is National Poetry Month! Sharing poems and songs with your preschool-aged children helps get them ready to read. Nursery rhymes and nonsense verse are especially great in the way they expand children’s imaginations, and…

Teen Poetry Slam!

Every year, teen poets and spoken word artists come together to blow us away with their words and performances-- Teen Poetry Slam returns to the Free Library on Friday, April 5! If you’re coming out to perform, this is what you…

Happy World Poetry Day!

Although it may seem like every day brings a new national or international holiday to celebrate, today, March 21, is particularly noteworthy (and comes with UNESCO's seal of approval): it's World Poetry Day! As the…

Happy Birthday to You, Dear Edgar

Whether it's classic poems and literature, ties to Philadelphia, spooky undertones, or a great performance that interests you, the Free Library of Philadelphia's celebration of Edgar Allan Poe's 200th birthday has something…

Rare Book Department Celebrates Edgar Allan Poe

What better day than October 1, the first of a celebrated spooky month, to open an exhibition on the oft-macabre writer, Edgar Allan Poe? Parkway Central Library’s Rare Book Department is celebrating the 200th birthday of Poe with…

Ntozake Shange | Wild Beauty: New and Selected Poems

“Extraordinary and wonderful” ( New York Times ), Ntozake Shange wrote the Broadway-staged Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf , the groundbreaking prose poem/theater…

Nikki Giovanni | A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter

“One of the finest poets of our time” ( Ebony ), Nikki Giovanni is the author of nearly 30 books, including the collections Acolytes; Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgment; Those Who Ride the Night Winds ; and …

Poetry Reading and Open Mic

Join us for a celebration of poetry for seniors and the community at Kingsessing Library! Eugene Carrington will be reading and signing his book, Messenger Blues: Stories and Poems Mature adults are welcome to share their talents…

Loudon Wainwright III | Liner Notes: On Parents & Children, Exes and Excess, Death & Decay, & a Few of My Other Favorite Things with Eileen Myles | Afterglow (a dog memoir)

Buy tickets here on Tuesday, August 22nd at 10 AM! With a career spanning four decades, 26 studio albums, and untold scores of concerts, Loudon Wainwright III is one of the world’s most loved singer-songwriters. A prolific actor…

Teen Grab Bag

Come to the library to make fun crafts, work on poetry, or play games! Something different every week! For teens 12-17.

Julius Caesar: A Live Radio Play

Experience the Bard like you never have before. Revolution Shakespeare and the Hear Again Radio Project team up for an innovative production of an ancient political drama in Shakespeare Park. With a script by Orson Welles, a cast of…