Poets Reading the News is a digital platform for original, extraordinary poetry that bridges journalism and poetry. Its mission is to enact poetry’s vital cultural function as a processor for violence, cultural complexity, and political change. Since launching in September 2016, Poets Reading the News has published over 700 original poems. Notable contributors include Joy Harjo, Craig Santos Perez, Lauren Camp, Philip Metres, Matty Layne Glasgow, Pamela Hart, Nathan Marshall and Jeffrey Cyphers Wright. Moving coverage of the Oakland Ghostship fire, gun violence, the Trump presidency, white supremacy, climate change, #MeToo, and global news events has attracted a devoted readership and deeply involved writing community.

You can learn more about the Poets Reading the News in this Ivoh Magazine article or by listening to my NPR interview with Lois Reitzes.

I have curated a range of topical creative events in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond for Poets Reading the News, ranging from experimental workshops on complicity and #MeToo, to formal writing workshops at Inprint Houston and the Green Mountain Writers Conference, to multidisciplinary digital art, poetry and dance performances in the arts underground of Oakland and New Orleans.

We're very active on Patreon, a place for supporters to give direct financial sustenance to the project and for writers wishing to expand and develop their techniques. Connect with the platform with the Weekly Edition newsletter, check out our website, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook.