PBS' POETRY IN AMERICA to Return in January

Eight new half-hour episodes of Poetry in America will begin airing on public television stations nationwide (check local listings) and on the World Channel starting in January 2022 and continuing through the spring. The series will also be available to stream on pbs.org, poetryinamerica.org, Amazon, and iTunes.

The episodes focus on unforgettable American poems, which guests read and discuss with Elisa New, the series creator, host and director, who is the Director of the Center for Public Humanities at Arizona State University, and the Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature at Harvard. Co-Executive Producer for Poetry in America is Brigid Sullivan. Poetry in America is produced by Verse Video Education of Boston, MA in association with GBH, and presented by GBH to PBS stations nationwide.

"The poems I've chosen for this season deliver us into so many different moments and worlds," says New. "From the antebellum south to the farthest reaches of our galaxy, from the Arizona desert to Robert Frost's green Vermont and the thriving Cuban neighborhoods of Miami--Poetry in America allows viewers to see and hear, absorb the vibes, and connect with a diverse array of American voices."

Season Three guests include Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Julia Alvarez, Joshua Bennett, Rafael Campo, Donna Lynne Champlin, Gloria Estefan, Chris Eyre, Philip Galanes, LisaGay Hamilton, Leslie Jamison, Robin D.G. Kelley, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, Tony Kushner, Emily Oster, Tracy K. Smith, DJ Spooky, David Strathairn, Cassandra Wilson, Natalia Zukerman, and more. They discuss works by A.R. Ammons, Richard Blanco, Robert Frost, Linda Hogan, Bernadette Mayer, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sharon Olds, Alberto Ríos, Evie Shockley, Walt Whitman, and more.

New says, "Whether it's a great singer, distinguished journalist, public servant, or thinker--or, whether it's sixth graders in New York City, or high school kids in Gallup, New Mexico--this season's guests, and the poems they interpret, speak to the matters that most concern us all: our civic life, our planet, our families, relationships, and deepest feelings."

Poetry in America encourages people from all walks of life to have conversations about poems. The show has been seen by millions of viewers and aired on 96% of public television stations nationwide. Episodes are designed for viewers to experience each poem in an immersive way by hearing, reading, and interpreting it alongside archival materials, vibrant animation, and footage shot at the locations it evokes.

The television series Poetry in America is part of the larger multi-platform Poetry in America educational project, which is an initiative devoted to strengthening Humanities education for learners from a wide range of backgrounds: college, high school, and middle school learners, as well as educators.

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