Poetry highlights in honor of National Poetry Month!
Poet of the Day: Jericho Brown
Jericho Brown is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and the winner of the Whiting Writer's Award. Brown’s first book, Please (New Issues 2008), won the American Book Award. His second book, The New Testament (Copper Canyon 2014), won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. His third collection is The Tradition (Copper Canyon 2019) . His poems have appeared in The Bennington Review , Buzzfeed, Fence, jubilat, The New Republic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, TIME magazine, and several volumes of The Best American Poetry. He is an associate professor and the director of the Creative Writing Program at Emory University.
This poet belongs in our classrooms because…
Jericho Brown has a way of taking something traditional (thus The Tradition ) and turning it upside down in order to view the subject in an entirely different lens. As a black and gay man, Brown not only offers a voice for those who have not had their voices represented in literature, but speaks to all—his poetry cuts to the heart of human nature. 
Of Special Note
Dear Dr. Frankenstein - This poem by Jericho Brown has obvious parallels for British literature classes, and provides a perfect example of how Brown reframes a subject. 

Books of Poetry by Jericho Brown:

The Testament (2019) 


Find Poems Online:



Teaching Connections
Below is a lesson created using the poem Crossing that is planned to be used at the end of the high school seniors’ second semester. 

Begin by projecting the first line on the poem for students and ask them to free write and brainstorm on paper their thoughts—both positive and negative—about rivers. After about five minutes, have students share their thoughts in small groups.
Make a list of positive and negative meanings for a river and discuss as a class. Next provide small groups the remainder of the poem Crossing cut into lines. Direct students to work together to put the poem in order. They should consider line breaks, punctuation, and meaning when constructing the poem. When students have completed their task, show the poem in its entirety.
Ask students what they notice about the poem. Give students a hard copy of the poem to read and annotate. What stands out? Why do you think it’s important? Think about the imagery. How does specific imagery expand the meaning of the poem? Finally, have students reflect through journaling on the following questions:
Blackout Poetry

I also love this idea from APLitHelp which uses blackout poetry as a tool to get students to analyze a text. While this is focused on an AP prompt, teachers can use this strategy with any text and question designed for a specific lesson. 

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Susan Barber teaches at Grady High School in Atlanta, GA. In addition to teaching, she serves as editor and writer for APLitHelp.com , is a member of the NCTE Secondary Steering Committee, and remains passionate and optimistic about both education and the next generation. When not working, Susan likes to read, drink coffee, and watch Alabama football.