Dear Poetry Aficionados,

Poetry & Poets in Rags blog

Our take-off point for our reading this week is with the Hellman/Hammett grants, announced by Human Rights Watch, and given to "42 writers from 20 countries in recognition of their commitment to free expression and courage in the face of political persecution." We then go to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where a poet has been banned from re-entering the latter country, the argument being that "anyone who utters a statement similar to that of [Khalid] Al-Muraikhi does not know the real value of Kuwait." We then click off to Tibet, where there are oppressive movements afoot that would make native languages extinct, for instance, the sign over the schoolhouse entrance that reads, "I am a child of China. I like to speak Mandarin." We then go to Poland for a poem by Wislawa Szymborska. And this is just the beginning of our travels. Our Great Regulars section, for instance, begins with Bryan Appleyard, who writes, "Poetry has no serious contenders as the English national art."

Thanks for clicking in.

Yours,
Rus

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