Get Lit Minute

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, your weekly poetry podcast, we spotlight the life and work of poet Krysten Hill. She received her MFA in poetry from the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she currently teaches and is the recipient of the 2016 St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Award and 2020 Mass Cultural Council Poetry Fellowship. Do you LOVE poetry? Check out o...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, your weekly poetry podcast, we spotlight American poet and educator, Terrance Hayes. His 2010 collection, Lighthead, won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2010. About his work, Cornelius Eady has said: "First you'll marvel at his skill, his near-perfect pitch, his disarming humor, his brilliant turns of phrase. Then you'll notic...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, your weekly poetry podcast, we spotlight American poet and essayist Rita Dove. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the position was created by an act of Congress in 1986 from the previous "consultant in poetry" posit...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, your weekly poetry podcast, we take a look at the life and work of poet, essayist, and fiction writer, Destiny O. Birdsong. “failed avoidance of ‘the body’ in a poem” your therapist wants to know where in your body you most feel your anxiety.   you tell her in the bones behind your face. they have their own   music, like ptolemy’s universe, and ch...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, your weekly poetry podcast, we focus on the life and work of scholar, novelist, and poet, Melvin Dixon. Influenced by James Baldwin, Dixon wrote extensively about the complexities of being a gay black man. Speaking on this topic at a speech to the Third National Lesbian and Gay Writers Conference, Dixon said, “As white gays deny multiculturalism a...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, your weekly poetry podcast, we share the life and work of American Poet and Professor, Ross Gay. Included in this episode is a reading of his poem, "Love, I'm Done With You." Support the show Support the show

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, your weekly poetry podcast, we discuss the life and work of American poet, essayist, and educator Robert Hayden. He served as a Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1976 to 1978, a role today known as US Poet Laureate. He was the first African-American writer to hold the office. Included in this episode is a reading of his poem &qu...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, your weekly poetry podcast, we spotlight UK-based poet, playwright, and performer Inua Ellams. Included in this episode is a reading and review of his poem, "Fuck / Shakespeare." And another thing / the grace you brought Othello / how you forged that moor / got him talking down his eloquence as if his tongue wasn’t part swan feather / pa...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, your weekly poetry podcast, we take a look at the work of Sekou Andrews and his poem "When I Grow Up." Andrews is a schoolteacher turned actor, musician, two-time national poetry slam champion, entrepreneur, and award-winning poetic voice, and is also the host of our 10th Annual Classic Slam! You can join Andrews and help judge our Class...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, Amiri Baraka (born Everett LeRoi Jones) who was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism. He was the author of numerous books of poetry and taught at several universities, including the University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University . He received the PEN/Beyond Margins Award in 2008 for Tales of the Out and the G...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, we spotlight  American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright, Countee Cullen, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance . Included in this episode is a reading of his poem, "Fruit Of The Flower." Support the show Support the show

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, we discuss the life and work of Safia Elhillo. Included in this episode is a reading of her poem “Ode to Gossips” - the full poem is available below for reference.  "Ode to Gossips" BY SAFIA ELHILLO i was mothered by lonely women       some of them wives     some of them             with plumes of smoke for husbands    all    lonely smel...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, we discuss the life and work of francine j. harris. She was a writer in residence at Washington University in St. Louis and taught creative writing at University of Michigan and Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. She is currently an associate professor of English at the University of Houston. Included in this episode is a reading of her poem “S...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, we discuss the life and work of poet Yolanda Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni as well as perform a reading of her poem "I Take Mastercard, Charge Your Love To Me." View more info on Nikki Giovanni & read the full poem at http://getlitanthology.org/poemdetail/48/ .  Support the show Support the show

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, we spotlight American poet and professor, Camille T. Dungy. Included in this episode is a reading of her poem "Characteristics of Life." Addressing the paucity of African American poets in anthologies of nature poetry, Dungy stated in a 2010 interview for the Oakland Tribune , “I miss seeing writers of color in the conversation. Until we...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, we spotlight American poet Wanda Coleman, who was also known as "the L.A. Blueswoman" and "the unofficial poet laureate of Los Angeles."  Included in this episode is a reading of her poem, "Bedtime Story." Support the show Support the show

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, we discuss the life and work of poet F. Douglas Brown. He is the author of two poetry collections, ICON (Writ Large Press, 2018), and Zero to Three (University of Georgia, 2014), winner of the 2013 Cave Canem Poetry Prize selected by US Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith. Included in this episode is a reading of Brown's poem, "How to Tell My...

In this episode of the Get Lit Minute, we spotlight  American poet, author, and teacher, Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on May 1, 1950, for Annie Allen, making her the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize. This episode includes a reading of her poe...

In this week's episode, we discuss the writing style and impact of Aziza Barnes' work. We also do a reading and analysis of their work "my dad asks, how come black folks can't just write about flowers." Barnes' poetry is also featured in our Get Lit Anthology.  Support the show Support the show

In this episode of the Get Lit Minute, we celebrate the life and work of U.S. Youth Poet Laureate, first-time Superbowl poet, and all-around iconic and glass-shattering female youth artist, Amanda Gorman. We learn how she was inspired to get into poetry, how important it is for her to listen to music to write, and what race means during this moment in time. This episode features a reading and inte...

In this week’s episode, we get lit with Yusef Komunyakaa. From a young age, Komunyakaa understood the power of language. This episode includes a reading of his poem, “Anodyne” (featured in Get Lit Anthology). Support the show Support the show

In this week’s episode, we dive into the groovy life of Porsha Olayiwola. Her work talks about her experience as a queer woman of color. This episode includes a reading of her poem, “Twerk Villanelle” (featured in Get Lit Anthology ). “Black, futurist, poet, dyke, hip-hop feminist, womanist: Porsha is a native of Chicago who now resides in Boston. Olayiwola is a writer, performer, educator and cur...

In this episode of the Get Lit Minute, we celebrate the life and work of Audre Lorde.  She was a self-described “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet, ” who dedicated both her life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, and homophobia. Included in this episode is a reading of Lorde's poem, "A Litany For Survival."...

In this week’s episode, we get a glimpse at the beautiful journey of Patricia Smith. A storyteller at heart, Smith aims to explore every possibility. This episode includes her poem featured in the Get Lit Anthology, “Biting Back.” “Biting Back” by Patricia Smith Children do not grow up as much as they grow away. My son’s eyes are stones - flat, brown, fireless, with no visible openings in or out....

This week's Get Lit Minute focuses on Marquesha Babers, a Get Lit Poet and artist. We review her life to date and how she began her artistic journey. This episode also features a reading of Baber's poem "That Girl." About Marquesha Babers: After growing up homeless and channeling her pain into power, Marquesha has become a mentor for Get Lit and an ambassador for the film Girl...