A POET EXAMINES THE PLACE OF POLITICS IN ART

In the midst of a feud with the poet Denise Levertov about the possibilities of politically motivated art, George Oppen wrote his only essay, “The Mind’s Own Place,” in 1962. Frances Richard presents a close reading of that essay for the George Oppen Memorial Lecture, presented annually by The Poetry Center since 1985. “I always ask myself as Read More

CLEVE JONES’ MEMOIR SAYS GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT SAVED HIS LIFE

Cleve Jones’ new memoir, When We Rise: My Life in the Movement, begins with a single-sentence paragraph: “The movement saved my life.” “That’s not rhetoric, that’s not hyperbole: The movement saved my life,” he reiterated by phone. “I was going to kill myself. I was planning it when I was 15, and then I read about Read More