Gather in Poems

Join us for the fourth Gather in Poems on Thursday, December 14, 2023, at 7 p.m. ET (virtual), an end-of-year offering featuring readings by Academy Chancellors and beloved poets in the community, hosted in the spirit of gathering, gratitude, and a shared hope for the upcoming year. Presented in collaboration with W. W. Norton, which is celebrating its centenary in 2023. Register for free here. Closed captioning will be provided.

The Academy of American Poets was honored to present the first Gather in Poems: A Virtual Reading on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 at 7:30 pm ET, which reflected on how sharing poems can create a sense of community, especially at a time when so many must be apart. This reading was free and open to the public, with presentations by award-winning poets, including U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass, National Book Award-winner Arthur Sze, and Kingsley Tufts Poetry-winner Patricia Smith.

The following poems were shared:

Joy Harjo reads “More Than Something Else” by Rainy Dawn Ortiz
Aimee Nezhukumatathil reads "Darling Coffee" by Meena Alexander
Rafael Campo reads “won’t you celebrate with me” by Lucille Clifton.
Aracelis Girmay reads “If They Come For Us” by Fatimah Asghar.
Arthur Sze reads "Streets" by Naomi Shihab Nye.
Patricia Smith reads "To Prisoners" by Gwendolyn Brooks.
National Student Ethan Wang reads "So They Say— They Finally Nailed— the Proton’s Size— & Hope— Dies—" by Rosebud Ben-Oni.
Jessica Jacobs reads"Astronomers Locate a New Planet" by Matthew Olzmann.
Nickole Brown reads "Rooms Remembered" by Laure-Anne Bosselaar.
Airea D. Matthews reads "For My People" by Margaret Walker.
Toi Derricotte reads "My People" by Langston Hughes.
Robert Hass reads “Sarah in Her Father’s Arms” by George Oppen.
Seema Yasmin reads from “The Voice of Sheila Chandra” by Kazim Ali.
Francisco Aragon reads "The Hug" by Thom Gunn.
Geffrey Davis reads "Wade in the Water" by Tracy K. Smith.
Ladan Osman reads "Dusting" by Marilyn Nelson.
Yesenia Montilla reads "On Gathering Artists" by Alberto Ríos.
Participants ended the program with a choral reading of “Perhaps the World Ends Here” by Joy Harjo.
 

Share the full anthology of poems featured in the reading.

The Academy of American Poets was honored to present the second Gather in Poems: A Virtual Reading on Thursday, November 18, 2021, with the esteemed poets who serve on the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets. Chancellors read from their work and reflected on how sharing poems can create a sense of community.

The following poems were shared:

"Island" by Langston Hughes, read by Ellen Bass 
"If You Knew" by Ellen Bass
"How to Apologize" by Ellen Bass 
"Quotidian" by Natasha Trethewey
"Beeches" by David St. John 
"The Park" by David St. John 
"Hotbed 66" by Nikky Finney 
"Muscular Fantasy" by Terrance Hayes 
"From LOCK DOWN IMPROMPTKU" by Marilyn Chin 
"What the Silence Said" by Marie Howe 
"Unto Ourselves III: To See What's There" by Forrest Gander 
"If I Should Come Upon Your House Lonely in the West Texas Desert" by Natalie Diaz 
"& After the Power Came Back" by Brenda Hillman 
"Autumn Ritual with Hate Turned Sideways" by Brenda Hillman 
"Some Kinds of Forever Visit You" by Brenda Hillman
"Halter" by Kevin Young 
"Dog Star" by Kevin Young 
"Russet" by Kevin Young 
"Emily Said" by Dorianne Laux 
"I heard a Fly buzz (465)" by Emily Dickinson, read by Dorianne Laux 
"Last Days" by Kwame Dawes
"Eat" by Kwame Dawes 
"Mothership" by Tracy K. Smith 
"We Feel Now A Largeness Coming On" by Tracy K. Smith 
"Without" by Joy Harjo 

The Academy of American Poets was honored to present the third Gather in Poems on Thursday, November 17, 2022 at 7 pm ET. This reading was free and open to the public, with presentations by award-winning poets, including former U.S. Poet Laureates Juan Felipe Herrera, Tracy K. Smith, and Natasha Trethewey; and, Hanif Abdurraqib, Marie Howe, Dorianne Laux, and more.

The following poems were shared:

Jennifer Benka reads “Perhaps the World Ends Here” by Joy Harjo.
Tracy K. Smith reads “from The Black Maria” by Aracelis Girmay.
David St. John reads "Dusting" by Marilyn Nelson and "Sampling" by Ralph Angel.
Hanif Abdurraqib reads “Spilled Sugar” by Thylias Moss.
Sasha Pimentel reads “Amphibious” by Aimee Suzara and “Aubade at the City of Change” by Aldo Amparán.
TC Tolbert reads “Cento Between the Ending and the End” by Cameron Awkward-Rich.
Dorianne Laux reads “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson.
Marie Howe reads “Briefly It Enters, and Briefly Speaks” by Jane Kenyon.
Lloyd Schwartz reads “The Day Lady Died” by Frank O’Hara.
Marilyn Nelson reads “In the Company of Women” by January Gill O’Neil.
Juan Felipe Herrera reads “The Idea of Ancestry” by Etheridge Knight.
Natasha Trethewey reads “Thanks” by Yusef Komunyakaa.
Sumita Chakraborty reads “Offering” by Donika Kelly.
Mai Der Vang reads “Map” by Linda Hogan.
Tina Chang reads “The Chance” by Arthur Sze.