Get Lit Minute

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 Foundation

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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 still/and his tune is heard/ on the distant hill /for the caged bird/sings of freedom.

Historical Research: The Poetry Foundation

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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 contributed.'' This episode will feature a spoken word reading of his 1865 poem, "O Captain! My Captain!".

Excerpt:

O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
      But O heart! heart! heart!
            O the bleeding drops of red,
                  Where on the deck my Captain lies,
                        Fallen cold and dead.

Sources: This poem was reprinted in Sequel to Drum-Taps (1865); with revision in Passage to India (1871, 1876); and finally in "Drum-Taps," Leaves of Grass (1881–82). Historical Research: The Poetry Foundation & The Walt Whitman Archive.

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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. 

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