Poets & Writers Theater

“I love the deep attribute of poetry to pause, to look, to listen, to respect, to pay attention to variety and learn something new.” Naomi Shihab Nye, Juan Felipe Herrera, and Jane Hirschfield discuss poetry and the poet’s role in America at the 2015 National Book Festival in this video from the Academy of American Poets.

“It is not an easy place out there to have any kinds of critical opinions, even in our so-called flaunted democracies. And encouraging that, encouraging what we call courageous speech...I think that this is a key skill that is something we should invest in.” Pulitzer Prize–winning author Junot Díaz joins Gill Deacon on CBC Radio to share how he became an activist and teacher in his own right.