Patrick Pressl

Unless you've been hiding under a rock (a really big one), chances are you've at least heard of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old boy gunned down February 26th by a neighborhood watchman in Sanford, Florida. Since then, Martin's story has practically owned national headlines. Rallies have been organized

While roaming the Internet the other day (a dangerous habit as many well know), I came across an essay titled "Poetry is not a Performance Art" written by Miles Mathis. The essay was a response to the announcement that the White House would host

January 23rd, 2012 marked the coming of the-later-than-Solar-but-just-as-important Lunar New Year, more commonly known as "Chinese New Year" (though it is celebrated in many other cultures). In honor of both the solar and lunar calendars, I've put together a slideshow featuring 12 Asian American poets. These...

Back in September, I wrote a piece covering the National Poetry Slam and mentioned a poet named Philip Levine, a Detroit native and former industrial worker who just so happens to be the current U.S. Poet Laureate. And for what many believe...

As we enter a new campaign season sure to be rife with heated arguments and incessant finger pointing, one can't help but be reminded of all the issues that keep America at odds with itself. Our country has been at war for nearly a decade, yet Americans are still in...

On the night of August 13th, just outside the Berklee Performance Center in Boston, Massachusetts Avenue was flooded with eager ears and a few newly minted celebrities.

"Aren't you guys poets?" an excited voiced asked the group waiting in line behind me...

Back in May, I created a post including five poetry venues I thought were worth checking out and, in the extremely limited scope of my piece, I neglected to mention many other outstanding poetry venues and events around the country. In the comments it was noted that I...

On June 24th, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a marriage equality bill into law after it passed a senate vote 33 to 29. The law will become effective July 24th, making New York just the sixth state to legalize gay marriage in the United States.

The...

On May 27th, poet/singer/songwriter/activist Gil Scott-Heron passed away at the age of 62. Scott-Heron, perhaps best known for his spoken-word piece "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," released a plethora of records during the 70's, most of them combining jazz, soul, and funk music with socially conscious lyricism focusing on...

On May 11th President Obama and the First Lady hosted an evening of poetry and music at the White House, the second of such events since the President has been in office (clips of the first event held in 2009 can be found on the White House's YouTube...

Slam poetry is, in itself, a conundrum. Slams are competitions in which poets are judged by random audience members on their poem's content, delivery, and overall performance. The notion that poems can be "judged," as if there were some standard they could be measured against, almost seems to cheapen the...