poetry

As Bob Reitman’s new album 12th House showcases his spoken word poetry, WUWM wanted to connect him with different generations of poets to learn more about what the practice means to them and share some of their work. This poets roundtable features Reitman, Milwaukee poet and musician Bryon Cherry and Milwaukee's current Youth Poet Laureate Jodie Jasim.

Bob Reitman’s first spoken word album The Eleventh House came out in the 70s. 54 years later, he’s releasing a follow-up album of his poetry called 12th House. Reitman and his album engineer and producer, Gary Tanin, share why they wanted to return to releasing poetry with WUWM's Lauri Jones.

Milwaukeean Petey Balestrieri created a new free monthly film series called “Petey’s Popcorn,” where he finds local a host and partners with a charity of their choice. This month, “Petey’s Popcorn” is hosted by Woodland Pattern to benefit their Milwaukee Youth Poet Laureate program.

The Milwaukee Youth Poet Laureate receives a paid summer internship and mentorship from Woodland Pattern, shares their poetry throughout the city and helps guide other young poets through writing workshops.

Brenda Cárdenas is Wisconsin’s newest poet laureate. As the state’s ambassador for poetry, the Milwaukee native hopes to inspire creativity through workshops, projects and meeting with young people.

Aleena Ahmed, a Bengali American poet and a junior at Nicolet High School, was selected as the youth poet laureate last summer by Woodland Pattern, a nonprofit book center and performance space. During her time as youth poet laureate, Ahmed says she’s helped guide other young people in poetry camps and writing workshops.

Emily Igwike, Milwaukee’s first-ever youth poet laureate, is wrapping up the last few months of her one-year term.

For Bryon Cherry, writing every day helped him process what he was going through personally. His new book, called ‘death moan,’ is meditation on how death tugs at us from many angles. It was written during the height of the pandemic.

Derrick Harriell's latest poetry collection meditates on the expansive possibilities and uncertainties of home, family and prosperity.

Newly appointed Wisconsin poet laureate, Nicholas Gulig, has authored three poetry books and is currently an associate professor at UW-Whitewater. He shares his passion and inspiration for poetry and what he hopes to accomplish.