We wrapped up National Poetry Month with five author interviews and excerpts, and a thoughtful piece on writing poetry through times of crisis from Natasha Ramoutar.
“Writing in response has an established history intertwined with activism. Poetry has long been integrated in protests, and can rally a crowd, provide morale, and expose and question ongoing injustices. A key feature of many of these works is that they are timely and because of this, it’s crucial to get them out as quickly as possible. […] When I consider reasons why one might be compelled to write during this pandemic, I return to this idea of protest and uprising—that we might write in response to the systems which allowed the pandemic to occur and the inequalities that are being exacerbated in its wake.”
