Poems for Mother's Day & Remembering, Emma Lazarus Project, and more

May 4, 2021

Poems for Mother’s Day & Remembering

As we celebrate and honor mothers and caretakers this Sunday, we also reflect with poems centering loss, remembering, and the body:

“Another Poem for Mothers” Erin Belieu
“poem to my uterus” by Lucille Clifton
“Dear Mama (4)” by Wanda Coleman
“Prayer with Miscarriage / Grant Us the Ruined Grounds” by Geffrey Davis
“I Ask My Mother to Sing” by Li-Young Lee
“The Raincoat” by Ada Limón
“La suavecita” by Lupe Mendez
“The courage that my mother had” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
“Self-Portrait as C-Section Scar” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
“Ghosts” by Kiki Petrosino
“Mother and Baby” by Alexander Posey
“For My Mother” by May Sarton
“Red Cloth” by Jean Valentine

Emma Lazarus Project

The Emma Lazarus Project tells the story of Emma Lazarus, a fifth-generation American Jew during a pivotal time in American and Jewish History. The project, which includes an exhibit, curriculum, and poetry contest for students, also features translations of “The New Colossus” by poets from all over the world, and essays by Alicia Ostriker and Mihaela Moscaliuc.

#PoetryNearYou Pick of the Week:
HOME, A Poetry Reading & Open Mic

Check out our #PoetryNearYou Pick of the Week: HOME, A Poetry Reading & Open Mic featuring Martín Espada, curated by Boston Poet Laureate and 2020 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow Porsha Olayiwola. Friday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m. EDT. Learn more about this free event here.

Listen to Deborah Paredez read Muriel Rukeyser’s “Poem (I lived in the first century of world wars,” featuring illustrations by award-winning artist, Sindha Agha, as part of Twenty Ten Twenty-Five.

Whitman in the Woods: A Film by Taylor Mac Presented by ALL ARTS

ALL ARTS presents artist-in-residence Taylor Mac’s Whitman in the Woods, a compilation of Walt Whitman poems performed in drag inspired by the woodland surroundings of the Lower Hudson Valley. View the full film here.

Upcoming Contest Deadlines

Poetry presses and publishers, don’t miss the May 15th deadline for the 2021 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, awarded to the most outstanding book of 2020, and the 2021 James Laughlin Award, which recognizes and supports a second book forthcoming in 2022.

Catapult Books in New York City is seeking a full-time Editorial Assistant to work with the Editor in Chief to provide administrative support, read and edit manuscripts, and help manage the entire editorial process. To apply, send cover letter and resume to jobs@catapult.co.
Coffee House Press in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is seeking a full-time Executive Director and Publisher to develop, implement, and execute a strategic business plan, among many other responsibilities.
Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio, is seeking a full-time Lecturer to teach developmental, composition, and literature courses.

Sumita Chakraborty on Curating Poem-a-Day

“I think pretty much in all of the poems, there is an interest in taking stock of grief and violence and pain in both the present and the past, both on a deeply personal level and on a kind of historical, cultural level.”

—Sumita Chakraborty, author of Arrow (Alice James, 2020), and Poem-a-Day Guest Editor for the month of May.

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

April 25: “Japanese Hokku” by Lewis Grandison Alexander
April 26: “Let Me Begin Again” by Major Jackson
April 27: “When Nothing But Tree” by Linda Gregerson
April 28: “Boletus” by Rosanna Warren
April 29: “Gertrude: In the Rooms” by Kate Daniels
April 30: “I Never Knew I Loved Dean Rader” by Dean Rader
May 1: “Origin Story” by Leah Naomi Green

The Academy of American Poets

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Poems for Mother's Day & Remembering, Emma Lazarus Project, and more