"we are running out of the glass rooms / with our mouths full of food to look at the sky"

November 22, 2022

Poems for Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving a couple days away, all of us at the Academy of American Poets want to express our gratitude for your readership. Please accept this curated list of poems to share at your table:

“Butter” by Elizabeth Alexander
“A Thanksgiving Poem” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
“Perhaps the World Ends Here” by Joy Harjo
“Eating Together” by Li-Young Lee
“Thanks” by W. S. Merwin
“Dusting” by Marilyn Nelson
“Thanksgiving in the Anthropocene, 2015” by Craig Santos Perez

“When Giving Is All We Have” by Alberto Ríos
“What Was Told, That” by Jalal al-Din Rumi
“The Wishbone: A Romance” by Lisa Russ Spaar
“Four Sonnets About Food” by Adrienne Su
“Thanksgiving” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

more at poets.org

Poet, fiction writer, and critic Gayl Jones was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on November 23, 1949. During an interview with poet Michael S. Harper, Jones recalled that she learned to write by listening to people talk. Jones has taught at the University of Michigan and Wellesley College. She is the recipient of the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award, among other honors.

Read more about Jones, including two excerpts from Song for Almeyda & Song for Anninho (Beacon Press, 2022).

“Song for Almeyda,” II.
“Song for Almeyda,” III.

more at poets.org

Watch Cornelius Eady read Lucille Clifton’s poem “turning,” as part of the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation’s Read By series of poetry films.

“I’ve talked about this before, about the way land and memory and time are sort of interwoven in a kind of matrix. And I called that ‘the memory field.’”

Jake Skeets is the author of Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers (Milkweed, 2019), which was selected by Kathy Fagan for the 2018 National Poetry Series and received the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. Read and listen to Skeets discuss the Poem-a-Day curatorial approach and more on Poets.org.

more at poets.org

#PoetryNearYou Pick of the Week

Check out our #PoetryNearYou Pick of the Week: Poetry Coalition member Cave Canem presents its annual prize reading featuring Courtney Faye Taylor and Aracelis Girmay. Wednesday, November 30, at 7 p.m. at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY) and via live-stream. Register here.

more at poets.org

Apply for the 2023 Ambroggio Prize

The Ambroggio Prize is a $1,000 publication prize given for a book-length poetry manuscript originally written in Spanish and with an English translation. The winning manuscript is published by University of Arizona Press. The 2023 Ambroggio Prize will be judged by Achy Obejas. Learn more and apply here by February 15, 2023 (11:59 p.m. ET).

more at poets.org

O, Miami in Miami, Florida, is seeking a director of development.
Kundiman in New York City in is seeking a full-time development director.
York College of Pennsylvania is seeking a full-time assistant professor of literature and language.

Revisit last week’s Poem-a-Day selections with us on Poets.org:

November 13: “Man Hesitates but Life Urges” by D’Arcy McNickle
November 14: “Navajo Mountain” by Norla Chee
November 15: “Resistors” by Brandon Som
November 16: “The White Paws” by Dara Yen Elerath
November 17: “Tendril” by Jada Renée Allen
November 18: “Untitled for a Reason” by Tara Betts
November 19: “Drifting” by Olivia Ward Bush-Banks

The Academy of American Poets

75 Maiden Lane

St #901

New York, NY 10038

Add us to your address book

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation Paul Laurence Dunbar W S Merwin Craig Santos Perez Jalal alDin Rumi Lisa Russ Spaar Ella Wheeler Wilcox Michael S Harper A Thanksgiving Poem

"we are running out of the glass rooms / with our mouths full of food to look at the sky"

Key phrases

Older messages

"109 Bermuda" by Kenzie Allen

"Gahé Dzíł / Mountain Spirits" by Crisosto Apache

"Song of the Oktahutche" by Alexander Posey

"Drifting" by Olivia Ward Bush-Banks

"Untitled for a Reason" by Tara Betts

You Might Also Like

Our Favorite Pants From 2002 Are Back & So Much Better

My Top 3: Ear Worms

Halfway to our goal

How Magnets Actually Affect Your Credit Cards

Your Zodiac Sign Matches This Popular Fandom

Finally, a Weight Loss Plan for 40+

When You’re Laid Off But Still Have to Go to Work

The best oatmeal raisin cookie recipe comes from a familiar guy

Behind the billionaire climate tax

Your gift to poetry matched!