Authors for Libraries – an advocacy & programming resource
When we started the Library as Incubator Project back in 2011, our focus was on how artists use libraries in their work. We were especially interested in how visual artists and performing artists use libraries, since there didn’t seem to be a lot of information out there on that particular topic. Eventually we expanded the project...
Featuring: Line Assembly
Earlier this month we featured a new program kit created for us by the members of Line Assembly, a touring group of young poets whose goal is to bring poetry (and poetry making which is SO cool) to the masses utilizing bookshops, coffee shops, and libraries all over the country. Today we talk more in depth...
Featuring: Line Assembly (Part 2)
This is the second part of our interview with the six members of the poetry group Line Assembly (click here to read part 1). As an artist, what would your ideal library look or be like? Oh boy, what a great question! I’ve been lucky to have seen some really fantastic libraries lately, which is why the...
Poetry Programs at Johnston Heights Secondary
Today’s poetry-themed post comes to us from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada! Michelle Hall, the Teacher-Librarian for the Johnston Heights Secondary School Learning Commons, posted about a few poetry programs she has going on in her school library for National Poetry Month. The hands-on poetry projects that students worked on include bookspine poetry and blackout poetry....
Kit: Poetry Scavenger Hunt
What better way to kick off the first week of National Poetry Month than with a wonderful new addition to our program kit collection? We’re thrilled to present this original program kit created for us – and you! – by a group of poets and literary educators known as Line Assembly. We’ll be featuring a...
Featuring: Russ Woods
Today we are very pleased to welcome Russ Woods to the site. Russ is a librarian, artist, writer, and publisher based in Chicago. Tell us a little bit about yourself – where you work, the kind of work (professionally/as a hobby/etc.) that you do, how you became involved with libraries and with the arts. I...
Featuring: Mwatabu Okantah
Today, we feature Mwatabu Okantah, a performance poet based in Akron, Ohio, who also serves as Assistant Professor and Poet in Residence for the Department of Pan-African Studies at Kent State University. His new book, Muntu Kuntu Energy: New and Selected Poetry, is new from Chatter House Press. ~Erinn I am now able to see The Library in the same...
Featuring: Lucy Marcovitch
“What has the library ever done for us?” Today’s featured artist Lucy Marcovitch posed this question on her blog just before the UK celebrated National Libraries Day on February 9th. Her heartfelt post about her own experience with libraries, and the threat posed by looming library closures in the UK, compelled many to write in...
Featuring: Skye Lavin
Many thanks to our friend and mentor, Louise Robbins, for connecting us with Skye and her marvelous poems. In the work featured here, the speaker– a librarian in a busy, urban public library– is torn between frustration and a kind of hamstrung benevolence for the homeless she serves. A real, and touching glimpse into the...
Featuring: Lauren Redniss
Today we are thrilled to present an interview with Lauren Redniss, artist, author, educator, and creator of the book Radioactive Marie and Pierre Curie: a Tale of Love and Fallout (It Books, 2010). I had the distinct pleasure of serving on the committee that selected Lauren’s book for the Go Big Read common book program at...
NaNoWriMo: Who’s Involved?
So National Novel Month is halfway over, and Wrimos the world over are pounding out page after page with literary abandon. Who are these people – and where are they located? NaNoWriMo’s sponsoring organization, The Office of Letters and Light, keeps excellent track of the demographics of the Wrimos and the words they log during their...
NaNoWriMo: 5 Great Books on Mechanics
by Erinn Batykefer Earlier this week, we shared 5 Great Books on the Craft of Writing to inspire and motivate WriMos as they vaulted over the 10,000 word mark. Today, we get down to sentences and share some recommended reading on mechanics. From tricky grammatical constructions to broad plot and characterization issues, every writer needs a...
