Had the pleasure of spending this week selecting & arranging images for a (pop-up) exhibit of prints by the iconic Cambridge-based photographer Elsa Dorfman. Thanks to the generosity of Harvey Silvergate & the assistance of James Fraser. Opens Mon, April 15th Woodberry Poetry Room

Yesterday, Harvard students (and staff, such as myself) rallied in support of the Columbia U students, who were egregiously arrested/suspended while peacefully protesting earlier this week....

Strange that both Helen Vendler & Marjorie Perloff have left us: the mighty women who shone such a light. I met Helen in Oxford (as a stranger at a cafe) when I was facing huge hurdles as a woman scholar & she validated my mind against the gaslighting. She all but saved me....

"[T]he contrast between a president and party that finally dealt with uncomfortable truths & a president and party that have never stopped spinning unconscionable lies." --Frank Bruni, NYT The only word I'd quibble with is "finally," but for now, I'm streaming unexpurgated Hope.

Next up on the anti-Trump turntable, Billy Bragg's transcendent rendition of this rousing Woody tune: youtube.com/watch?v=SFPL97… And, here's the defiant & fulsome Guthrie original: youtube.com/watch?v=VwcKwG…

Thanks, Bernie, for your words last night. I'm all the more excited to host this event this Fall. Come one, come all: BERNIE FOR BURLINGTON: A Reading & Conversation with Dan Chiasson on Oct. 17, 2024 Woodberry Poetry Room Info: libcal.library.harvard.edu/event/13018388

I was exactly 3 years old in August 1974, was just learning to walk/sing/speak, when Philippe Petit took those first steps--not onto the lunar surface but out into the very element of our earthly existence, if we accept as one philosopher has put it, that "EVERYTHING IS SKY."

Join us this Tuesday, Sept 24, 6pm, as we inaugurate our Fall 2024 season with a lovefest for New England innovators: BOSTON ORIGINALS, featurings readings by Sean Cole, Tavi González, Antonio Ochoa, Ted Pearson, Trace Peterson, & Eleni Sikelianos. Woodberry Poetry Room

On October 17th, Woodberry Poetry Room is honored to present a reading by Dan Chiasson from BERNIE FOR BURLINGTON: Sanders in a Changing Vermont (forthcoming from Knopf), introduced by New Yorker staff writer Louisa Thomas. More info: libcal.library.harvard.edu/event/13018388

TOMORROW: Thursday, October 17th at 6PM Houghton Library. We'll be talkin' about a Revolution. Doors open at 5:30pm, with a playlist to greet you, curated by the Dan Chiasson. Live-streaming via our YouTube channel: youtube.com/watch?v=PvNvDU… For more info: libcal.library.harvard.edu/event/13018388

Insta is not the place to fight fascism, so I'm back on X (the ironies!) with 2 weeks to go till the Election. As someone who came to poetry & activism thru the experience of bullying, this article by R. Reich has my number. The number he's dialing is 911: rb.gy/1rgnqs

I worked hard over the summer to create a season that would meaningfully prepare us for the Election, with events including tomorrow's reading by Cecilia Vicuna; last week's Bernie for Burlington event; & our November 4th peace-caroling evening. MORE INFO: library.harvard.edu/libraries/poet…

As a Jersey girl, I approve of this message: theguardian.com/us-news/2024/o…

If you need a moment of joy and communion on the night before the Election (and if you need to take a moment to focus your anxieties on something more manageable like "What is my next note?" instead of "How am I going to save my nation?!!!") please join us.

Don't want to study War anymore? Don't want to study Walls anymore? Don't want to focus all your attention on division, on anger, on fear? Are you nervous about the Election tomorrow? Join THE ENORMOUS CHORUS tonight at 6PM: libcal.library.harvard.edu/event/13056192 Woodberry Poetry Room

O my friends & comrades, I'm with John Cage, when he says, "Thou shalt not divide the Earth into nations," and yet, and yet, on waking, found myself saying: "CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY!"

See you at noon at the Robert Gould Shaw monument across from the Boston Statehouse. We're a group of poets, teachers, artists, amateur singers who believe music can be "the only weapon that LOVES." Join us.