On June 10, the Library of Congress announced it appointed Juan Felipe Herrera as the nation’s Poet Laureate, a position that dates back to 1937 and is aimed at raising awareness of the reading and writing of poetry. Perhaps most significant in the announcement is the fact that Herrera, 66, is the first Latino poet to be named to the post.

You can read or listen to an NPR story here, but the short version is he’s the son of migrant farm workers and spent much of his earlier life on the west coast. He studied at both UCLA and Stanford, as well as the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. He has since written more than two dozen books.

If you’re curious to read some of Herrera’s work, libraries within the Wisconsin Valley Library Service have some copies you can request here. Also, if you’re willing to wait a little longer to receive his books, you can find hundreds of copies through our Interlibrary Loan system. (In both catalogs, search by the poet’s name.) The Marathon County Public Library also has a couple of sites – LitFinder and Literary Reference Center - within our online resources where you can find information about Herrera and past poets laureate, or other authors. (You'll need your library card number and PIN to log into LitFinder and LRC.)

Herrera will serve as Poet Laureate for the next two years, and joins past Poets Laureate such as Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams and Robert Penn Warren. In describing Herrera and his work, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said: “I see in Herrera’s poems the work of an American original—work that takes the sublimity and largesse of “Leaves of Grass” and expands upon it. His poems engage in a serious sense of play - in language and in image - that I feel gives them enduring power. I see how they champion voices and traditions and histories, as well as a cultural perspective, which is a vital part of our larger American identity."

Here is one of Herrera’s poems, excerpted from his 2008 book “Half a World in Light: New and Selected Poems.”

Let Me Tell You What a Poem Brings

for Charles Fishman

Before you go further,
let me tell you what a poem brings,
first, you must know the secret, there is no poem
to speak of, it is a way to attain a life without boundaries,
yes, it is that easy, a poem, imagine me telling you this,
instead of going day by day against the razors, well,
the judgments, all the tick-tock bronze, a leather jacket
sizing you up, the fashion mall, for example, from
the outside you think you are being entertained,
when you enter, things change, you get caught by surprise,
your mouth goes sour, you get thirsty, your legs grow cold
standing still in the middle of a storm, a poem, of course,
is always open for business too, except, as you can see,
it isn't exactly business that pulls your spirit into
the alarming waters, there you can bathe, you can play,
you can even join in on the gossip—the mist, that is,
the mist becomes central to your existence.

]]> Chad Dally / Library Services Thu, 11 Jun 2015 16:36:26 GMT http://engagedpatrons.org/Blogs.cfm?SiteID=1769&BlogID=112&BlogPostID=14624
Come and build a poem with LEGO poetry in the TeenZone. Each LEGO has a word on it and you are invited to create a poem by using the words on the LEGOS.  It’s like magnetic poetry, but in three dimensions.  When you are done, take a picture with your phone, name the picture with the title of the poem (and your name if you want) and send it to us at teenzone@mcpl.us. We’ll post the poems to our Facebook page, so remember to like MCPL on Facebook to see your poem. Don’t have time to build a poem here?  Take one of our word pages and have fun creating whenever. You can email your poems to us and we’ll post those on our Facebook page, too.

On April 30, it’s poem in your pocket day.  On that day, you have a poem in your pocket that you share with everyone you meet.  Hopefully, they will have a poem to share back! We have three poem possibilities, already photocopied for you to pick up and put in your pocket available in the TeenZone.

Also, our Athens branch will be have materials for teens to create found poems with materials provided by the library all month long.  So stop by and create a poem or share poem. Remember, April is National Poetry Month! 
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]]> Julie Kinney / Library Services Wed, 08 Apr 2015 12:48:09 GMT http://engagedpatrons.org/Blogs.cfm?SiteID=1769&BlogID=112&BlogPostID=2535 It's April and Spring is finally here and with it National Poetry Month sponsored by the Academy of American Poets.  Poems speak to us in different ways, affecting our heart and soul. I know that I easily become engulfed in a poem, lingering, enjoying the sound and play of the words, drinking in its meaning.

Poems often find a way into our busy lives when mere words are not enough, when we find it difficult to express the depth of our feelings and need something to soothe us, inspire us, give us hope—weddings, funerals, when we fall in love. 

Some of my favorite collections of poetry that you may also enjoy are:

• Good Poems—selected and introduced by Garrison Keillor—a nice collection of poems selected by Garrison Keillor from Writer’s Almanac on public radio.
• The Top 500 Poems—edited by William Harmon—this collection includes popular poems from 1250 to the current day.
• Poems that Touch the Heart—compiled by A.L. Alexander--this popular inspirational collection of poetry has been reprinted and enlarged many times.  
• Americans’ Favorite Poems—edited by Robert Pinsky and Maggie Dietz—this collection is the result of Robert Pinsky’s, (U.S. Poet Laureate) Poem Project, in which 200 Americians selected their favorite poems and commented on why these poems ar

  ]]> Sharyn Heili, Librarian Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:36:47 GMT