Poets & Writers Theater

Phillip B. Williams discusses his use of “the grotesque” in his poetry, the relationship between poetry and the internet, and how to foster literary community at the Tufts poetry library at Claremont Graduate University. Williams is the winner of the 2017 Kate Tufts Discovery Award for his debut collection, Thief in the Interior (Alice James Books, 2016).

For PBS NewsHour, U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith recommends recent poetry titles, including Look (Graywolf Press, 2016) by Solmaz Sharif, who was featured in “Shadows of Words: Our Twelfth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in Poets & Writers Magazine, and Lessons on Expulsion (Graywolf Press, 2017) by Erika L. Sanchez, who was profiled in “First” by Rigoberto González in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

At the Brooklyn Poets Reading Series, Tommy Pico reads an excerpt from his debut poetry collection, IRL (Birds, LLC, 2016). Pico is featured in “Shadows of Words: Our Twelfth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“In lieu of flowers send a map of your city...” Carolina Ebeid, author of You Ask Me to Talk About the Interior (Noemi Press, 2016), reads “In Lieu of Flowers” for 32 Poems in Chicago. Ebeid is featured in “Shadows of Words: Our Twelfth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“The slit would talk back sweet nothing in a red gown.” Phillip B. Williams reads at the Missouri Review’s Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize Reading. Williams, author of Thief in the Interior (Alice James Books, 2016), is featured in “Shadows of Words: Our Twelfth Annual Look at Debut Poets” by Dana Isokawa in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“How we write is we feel around on the ground with our hands to find what has fallen before us isn’t and must be ours to speak of.” Ari Banias, author of the debut poetry collection, Anybody (Norton, 2016), reads a selection of his poems for the Poetry Project. Banias is featured in “Shadows of Words: Our Twelfth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“Sometimes I ask for too much just to feel my mouth overflow.” Ocean Vuong reads “Notebook Fragments” for Button Poetry at the 2016 AWP conference and book fair. Vuong, author of Night Sky With Exit Wounds (Copper Canyon Press, 2016), is featured in “Shadows of Words: Our Twelfth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“Even your dinner napkins are on fire.” Solmaz Sharif accepts an award from the Women’s Intercultural Network and reads poems from her debut collection, Look (Graywolf Press, 2016). Sharif is featured in “Shadows of Words: Our Twelfth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

“Let it matter what we call a thing. / Let it be the exquisite face for at least 16 seconds. / Let me LOOK at you. / Let me look at you in a light that takes years to get here.” Listen to Solmaz Sharif read the titular poem from her debut poetry collection, Look (Graywolf Press, 2016), which is longlisted for the 2016 National Book Award in Poetry. Sharif is featured in Page One in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

"Outside, a soldier spits out / his cigarette as footsteps fill the square like stones / fallen from the sky. May / all your Christmases be white / as the traffic guard unstraps his holster." Ocean Vuong shares poems from his debut collection, Night Sky With Exit Wounds (Copper Canyon Press, 2016), and speaks about the oral tradition of his family and his personal ties to the Vietnam War for a series on PBS NewsHour.