Boston Book Festival 2019

Former US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky has been called “our finest living example of [the American civic poet]” by the New York Times. In his newest anthology, The Mind Has Cliffs of Fall: Poetry at the Extremes of Feeling, Pinsky continues to champion poetry’s relevance, by presenting a sweeping overview of how poets both ancient and contemporary have used poetry to address the full range of human emotion—from despair to ecstasy. Pinsky will be joined by contributors Maggie Dietz, Martín Espada, and Jill McDonough to read their own poems from the collection, as well as other collected poems demonstrating poetry at the heights and depths of emotion. Obama inaugural poet Richard Blanco, author most recently of How to Love a Country, will host what’s sure to be a powerful session exploring how poets articulate our most visceral emotions. Sponsored by Mass Poetry.