Poetry

The image of a writer often conjures up visions of an author sequestered away crafting the perfect poem or buried under stacks of paper finishing their next novel. However, award-winning poet and Gertrude Conaway Professor of English Major Jackson believes it is a deeply collaborative process that relies heavily on community. Read More

A panel of jurists selected Niu’s I Would Define the Sun, a collection of poems about resisting scarcity through language. The inaugural prize drew more than 300 submissions and honors Vanderbilt University’s strong connection to the arts. Read More

The new prize comes as Vanderbilt University marks its Sesquicentennial by honoring its strong connection to the arts.  Read More

For his “eclectic but refined, musical, talky and witty” poetry, renowned poet Major Jackson, professor of English, director of creative writing and holder of the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities, has been awarded the 2023 Academy of American Poets Fellowship. Read More

Major Jackson, professor of English, director of creative writing and holder of the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities, has been named the new host of the celebrated poetry podcast The Slowdown, produced by American Public Media in partnership with the Poetry Foundation. Read More

A poem by Bryan Byrdlong, BA'15 Read More

Vanderbilt students are invited to express how they feel about unity and democracy through a new poetry contest. The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy is conducting the contest in partnership with Vanderbilt’s English department and MFA program in creative writing. The theme is “What unity through American democracy means to me.” Read More

Sonia Sanchez, a poet, playwright, professor and activist, will give a virtual talk on Wednesday, April 7, beginning at noon CT in celebration of National Poetry Month as well as Black art and artists. Read More

Before alumna Tiana Clark emerged as an electrifying new voice in poetry, before a flock of literary agents started calling, and before 'The New Yorker' magazine published her poem “Nashville” to acclaim last fall, she’d been stung so badly by rejection that she’d stopped writing for an entire year. Read more of the story from the latest issue of 'Vanderbilt Magazine.' Read More

Eleven students shared stories about their first-year Vanderbilt experiences with Nashville poets, and the conversations were transformed into meaningful poems during a literary arts seminar. Read More

Two senior undergraduate creative writers have been awarded prestigious fellowships to the Bucknell Seminar for Undergraduate Poets. Read More

Edgar Kunz, a 2015 graduate of Vanderbilt's MFA Program in Creative Writing, has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts creative writing fellowship in poetry for 2017. Read More

Beth Bachmann, a Vanderbilt writer-in-residence who has published two poetry collections, has been selected from a group of nearly 3,000 applicants for a 2016 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. Read More

The Gertrude and Harold Vanderbilt Visiting Writers Series will host two alumni who are award-winning poets. Anders Carlson-Wee and Nate Marshall will give public readings the week of March 14-18. Read More

Shakespeare, transitional justice in South Africa, the Nashville Ballet, and Judaism are among the diverse topics open to all adults 50 and older this spring through the Institute for Lifelong Learning at Vanderbilt. Read More

Thomas Merton's legacy as an influential Catholic author, artist and advocate for peace and civil rights will be celebrated at Vanderbilt the first week of December with events that include jazz and poetry performances. Read More

The work of three Vanderbilt poets is to be included in the Best New Poets anthology for 2015. The new anthology highlights the work of 50 of the nation’s most promising poets. Read More

An acclaimed poet who came of age in the South during the turmoil and unrest of 1960s and '70s civil rights struggles will deliver the 2015 Cole Lectures at Benton Chapel Oct. 8 and 9. Read More

Anders Carlson-Wee, a second-year Vanderbilt MFA student and former professional rollerblader, is the recipient of an NEA Creative Writing Fellowship in Poetry. Read More

Barnes & Noble at Vanderbilt will host three local writers with ties to Vanderbilt at Lyrical Brew: An Evening of Local Poetry, beginning at 7 p.m. Oct. 3. Read More