Get Lit Minute

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, we discuss the life and work of poet Dudley Randell. Included in this episode is a reading of Randell's poem, "Booker T. and W.E.B." The full poem is also available below. The influence of Dudley Randall, founder of Broadside Press and Detroit’s first poet laureate, “has been one of the strongest—some say the strongest—in the black...

In this week's episode, we discuss the life and work of Claudia Rankine, winner of an Academy of American Poets Fellowship and the MacArthur Genius Grant.  Rankine was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and educated at Williams College and Columbia University. Her work has appeared in many journals, including Harper's, GRANTA , The Kenyon Review , and the Lana Turner Journal . She co-edits (with...

In this week’s episode, we focus on the poet who learned to start a revolution through art, Sonia Sanchez. Included in this episode is a reading of Sanchez’s poem, “This is Not a Small Voice.” Support the show Support the show

In this week’s episode, we talk about Somali-British poet, Warsan Shire. This episode includes a reading and discussion of Shire’s poem “Ugly” from her collection Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth. More about Warsan Shire: Shire’s work deals with her cultural roots, immigrations, womanhood, Identity, and Somalia. She is the author of many collections, including Her Blue Body and Our Men Do Not...

In this week's episode, we focus on writer, performer, and poet Danez Smith. This episode includes a reading and discussion of Smith's poem "Rose" (also featured in Get Lit's Anthology). More about Danez Smith: Danez Smith is a Black, queer, non-binary, HIV-positive writer and performer from St. Paul, MN. They are the author of the poetry collections Boy and Don't Cal...

In this week's episode, we remember the life and work of American soul and jazz poet, musician, author, and spoken-word performer, Gil Scott-Heron. Included in this episode is a reading of Scott-Heron's piece "I Think I'll Call It Morning." Support the show Support the show

In this week’s episode, we discuss the work of Cameron Awkward-Rich, who began writing at the age of 12 and continued on to become a beloved contemporary poet and essayist.  He writes: “A lot of Slam Poetry is the perfect example of what an essay is. You have a hook, evidence, and all sorts of other things to present ideas.” Nia also reads Cameron’s poem, “Cento Between the Ending and the End.” Th...

In this week's episode, we discuss the life and work of American author and journalist, Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates. Also included is a reading of an excerpt from his book, "Between The World & Me." It is written as a letter to the author's teenage son about the feelings, symbolism, and realities associated with being Black in the United States. Coates recapitulates American hist...

In this week's episode, we discuss the work of Elizabeth Acevedo, a Dominican-American poet and author. She is the author of The Poet X, With the Fire on High and Clap When You Land. The Poet X is a New York Times Bestseller, National Book Award Winner, and Carnegie Medal winner. This episode includes an excerpt from Acevedo's live performance of her poem "Afro Latina." Support...

In this episode, we discuss the life and work of Mahogany L. Browne, a writer, organizer & educator. She is the Executive Director of Bowery Poetry Club & Artistic Director of Urban Word NYC & Poetry Coordinator at St. Francis College. Browne has received fellowships from Agnes Gund, Air Serenbe, Cave Canem, Poets House, Mellon Research & Rauschenberg. She is the author of Woke: A...

In this week's episode, we discuss Etheridge Knight and his life and works. Knight was an African-American poet who made his name in 1968 with his debut volume, Poems from Prison. With roots in the Civil Rights Movement , Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam , and the Black Power Movement, Etheridge Knight and other American artists within the movement sought to create politically engaged work t...

In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, we discuss the work of Hanif Abdurraqib as well as the relationship between pain and artistry. We also read an excerpt from "They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us." Learn more about Get Lit’s work here . Support the show.  Support the show Support the show

This week, we learn about Tiana Clark, a 2019 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow and a recipient of a 2019 Pushcart Prize. She writes “Think about curating a museum exhibit. You get to decide how your reader is going to walk through your collection, or through your poem. Some pieces of art might have a ten-foot velvet rope, some others might be an interactive exhibit where you get t...

This week we learn about Jericho Brown, the 2020 Pulitzer -prize Winner for poetry and author of the viral poem “Bullet Points.” “I don’t think a poem should be a record for our lives,” he writes, “What I mean is that a poem should be a living organism.”  To learn more about Get Lit’s work visit getlit.org. Support the show at getlit.org/donate. Support the show Support the show

This week we focus on Lucille Clifton, the author of more than sixteen books of poetry. The mother of six children, Lucille writes, “I continue to write because writing is a way of continuing to hope. Perhaps for me it is a way of remembering I am not alone.”  This season of Get Lit Minute focuses exclusively on Black artists and writers. To learn more about Get lIt’s work visit get lit.org. Suppo...

In the words of Amiri Baraka, James Baldwin was “God’s Black revolutionary mouth.”  Host Nia Lewis guides us through the life of one of America’s foremost literary geniuses. From his childhood in Harlem to his prolific writing years in France, we learn about one of the greatest minds of the 20th century, and conclude with a reading of the iconic “The Fire Next Time.”  This season of Get Lit Minute...

In this episode of Get Lit Minute, we discuss the life and work of William Carlos Williams. A full-time doctor and literary figure, Williams helped change the language of American poetry by mimicking the language of the American people. Williams' life and work is an example of the experience we all have when deciding to become an artist. Williams is strongly associated with the American moder...

In this episode, we focus on Persian mystic, poet, and lecturer, Rumi. We follow his path across the Middle East with his theologian father and the artistic influences and mentors that guided his writing into adulthood. We conclude with the iconic poem, Breezes at Dawn, which compels us all to ask, in this time of quarantine-quiet, what do you really want?  Historical Research: Encyclopedia Britta...

This week, we focus on American confessional poet and novelist, Sylvia Plath. We trace the multitude of experiences, both painful and revelatory, that led to Plath's most famous work, The Bell Jar. Though Plath did not receive wide-spread acclaim during her lifetime, she became one of the most well-known poets of the 20th century, largely due to the strength of her poetry collection Ariel . H...

This week, we focus on Beat poet and visionary, Jack Kerouac. We explore Kerouac's development from Columbia University student to Allen Ginsberg's best friend, a relationship that would birth a new form of poetry and prose, akin to jazz of the written word. "Live, Travel, Adventure," Kerouac writes, "And don't be sorry ." Historical Research: The Poetry Foundati...

This week, we focus on the iconic American poet, Maya Angelou. We explore Angelou's journey from Harlem to Ghana and the encouragement from James Baldwin that inspired her to write I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. We conclude with Caged Bird, which exemplifies Angelou's commitment to the liberation of all people: The caged bird sings with a fearful trill/of things/unknown/but longed for...

This week, we focus on the nineteenth-century American poet, Walt Whitman. We briefly touch on his time volunteering as a nurse during the civil war, and also share an anecdote on one of his most recognized photographs. Ralph Waldo Emerson would say of Whitman's seminal collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, to be "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contri...

Welcome to the Get Lit Minute. Each week, we discuss literary topics & spotlight both classical and modern poets. Our first episode features a reading of one of our favorite poems by John Keats, as well as a brief history of his life and work. Want to hear about a specific poet? Write in a request! And please, subscribe to the Get Lit Minute.  Support the show Support the show