Poets & Writers Theater

“There are kinds of knowledge, in both science and poetry, that can be made visible only by their enacting.” For this recording of the Academy of American Poets’ 2024 Blaney Lecture, Jane Hirshfield discusses the visible versus the invisible and examines poetry’s ways of naming through some of her favorite poems.

Poets & Writers Magazine features editor India Lena González hosts this virtual event celebrating the ten debut poets featured in “Performing the Future: Our Nineteenth Annual Look at Debut Poets” from our January/February 2024 issue. The event includes readings by the poets as well as a conversation about their debut books, their influences and inspirations, and their individual paths to publication.

Joshua Burton reads from his debut poetry collection, Grace Engine (University of Wisconsin Press, 2023), for this Splice Poetry Series reading at the Saturn Bar in New Orleans with poet Nikki Ummel. Burton is featured in “Performing the Future: Our Nineteenth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this virtual reading celebrating Carolina Hotchandani’s debut collection, The Book Eaters (Perugia Press, 2023), special guest poets Jennifer K. Sweeney, Lynne Thompson, and Catherine Barnett read a selection of poems and join in on a conversation about craft and writing. Hotchandani is featured in “Performing the Future: Our Nineteenth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Amanda Gunn speaks about her debut poetry collection, Things I Didn’t Do With This Body (Copper Canyon Press, 2023), in this installment of the Line / Break series hosted by Copper Canyon Press publicist Ryo Yamaguchi. Gunn is featured in “Performing the Future: Our Nineteenth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Leslie Sainz reads her poem “Malecón/Miami,” which appears in her debut collection, Have You Been Long Enough at Table (Tin House, 2023), in this short film produced by the O, Miami Poetry Festival. Sainz is featured in “Performing the Future: Our Nineteenth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

In this Books Are Magic event, Simon Shieh reads from his debut poetry collection, Master (Sarabande Books, 2023), and speaks about the themes within his book, the power of language, and truth in poetry with Ama Codjoe, author of Bluest Nude (Milkweed Editions, 2022). Shieh is featured in “Performing the Future: Our Nineteenth Annual Look at Debut Poets” in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.