I selected Charles C. Mann‘s (Twitter linked because no website is available) 1493: Uncovering the World New World Columbus Created as an audiobook commuting read. A patron recommended the book to me at my last library job. We would often swap non-fiction recommendations because few others at the library read the genre. Even fewer read it … Read More
For this summer’s Summer Tales Creative Contest I submitted a 3D rendering of a “knitted” wren in a nest inspired by Li-Young Lee’s “Persimmons,” one of the poems selected for Summer Tales. “Persimmons” discusses language construction and living between intersectional identities. Lee’s speaker discusses getting into trouble at school with a teacher by confusing similar … Read More
Hello, my name is Alissa Renales. My pronouns are they/them theirs. I am a Graduate Student in the School of Communications and Information and I will be graduating in December. My concentration is in Archives and Preservation. This summer I was lucky enough to be involved with the Summer Tales Book Club, the Rutgers University … Read More
Natalie Díaz is Mojave and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Tribe. She is also the Maxine and Jonathan Marshall Chair in Modern and Contemporary Poetry at Arizona State University. Díaz is also a well-decorated poet with a Pulitzer Prize for her most recent Postcolonial Love Poem, a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, and the … Read More
Natasha Trethewey has served as the 19th Poet Laureate of the United States (2012-2014), and as the Poet Laureate of the State of Mississippi (2012-2016). She has also published, to date, eight books of poetry. Thrall, published win 2012, was a Goodreads Choice Awards 2012 Finalist and a Best Poetry Finalist, a 2013 Southern Independent Booksellers … Read More
While Natalie Díaz is known internationally for her poetry, she is also passionate about preserving the Mojave language. Díaz’s work with the Mojave language comes from both a desire to preserve and to better understand it. The Poetry Foundation’s biography of Díaz includes a quote from the poet explaining how language impacts her work. She … Read More
As part of our ongoing series for National Poetry Month, we’re pleased to feature new Chang Library Graduate Assistant Alissa Renales’ remembrance of the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, held annually in New Jersey! For more information on the Dodge Foundation and the festival, which is running virtually now through May 2nd, see here. Alissa … Read More