Maggie O’Sullivan
at The Other Room
Manchester, UK
August 2008

Ken Edwards
at The Other Room
Manchester, UK
April 2011

Carol Watts
at The Other Room,
Manchester, UK

Reading from
Occasionals

Rae Armantrout
at the University of Chicago
January 2010

The opening performances from
the 3^rd international Text Festival
in Bury, Lancashire,
April 30, 2011
with Marco Giovenale,
Helen White & Maniek Darge, Márton Koppány,
Helmet Lemke & Hans Specht, and Sarah Sanders

The piece by Helmut & Hans
is a small excerpt
from a 4½-hour performance

Live at the White House, it’s
Elizabeth Alexander, Billy Collins, Common,
Rita Dove, Kenneth Goldsmith, Alison Knowles,
Aimee Mann & Jill Scott

Kenny’s not the controversial one

Linh Dinh has a different take

Al Filreis responds to Linh Dinh

Should Common be censored?

Obama welcomes
Common to the White House

Are Common’s lyrics
really so bad, Sarah Palin?

Common Sense eludes Sarah Palin

Palin: I’m not anti-rap

Fox News
provides its perspective
(with some helpful context from The Young Turks)

Is this overblown?

Gerri Willis
is just against poetry
(and can prove it)

Backing Common @ the White House

Jon Stewart’s commentary

What Common actually read

One attempt to
trash Common while
staying “above the fray”

For Smerconish,
it all comes down
to Mumia

Is Common controversy
raising the profile of poetry
at the White House?
(with videos of readings by
Elizabeth Alexander & Kenny G)

The dangers of metaphor

The Politics of Distraction

Barack Obama on the power of poetry