For Chinese New Year, Grace introduces us to poet Lucia Liang.

If you hear her once you’ll never again forget the voice of Linda Joy Burke. She calls words out from their caves of sleep; she slaps them alive; she makes hymns out of longing; and she apprehends what is wrong, saying its name, for what it is— all this in lyric song. -Grace Cavalieri

Imagine Frank X Walker as a little boy in Kentucky, second oldest of 11 children, getting up early to read books when the household is still quiet. Now know the man, former athlete, scholar, professor, and author of the books others will wake up to read in the early light. His poems about Medgar Evers will teach more than any history book. His poems about York, slave to William Clark, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, tell how it all feels. We know what the explorers wrote—now we know more— the truth of the experience.

What I like about Didi Menendez's poetry is that she sees honesty and vulnerability as essential to the palette. Forget showboating, Forget verbal tricks; she uses language as an arrow that never misses the heart ...

Listen in as Grace Cavalieri interviews lyric poet Terry Blackhawk in Grace's ongoing Poet & The Poem series at the Library of Congress.

Pam Winters. What I like are her energy shifts within the line and her unpredictable equations. She's one of my favorites because I can see every word she says ...

March is National Women's Month and Pat Valdata helps us to honor women who are extraordinary, and who broke through glass ceilings to reach high into the sky. -Grace Cavalieri

Alexis Rotella's images and word must be in collaboration with the Divine. She captures this life on earth - for all its beauty and wisdom - with new awareness - a sacred thing. In the art world she's fashion-forward; in the poetry world she's a prism of light. She's made a huge difference combining originality and lucidity with spirit and passion; but best of all, looking at her work is all you need to know of love. - Grace Cavalieri

I've known Sistah Joy for 20 years and she is always a new sunrise, a warm cup of tea, light on the lake, bluebirds in the snow, a source of the Divine. -Grace Cavalieri

E. Ethelbert Miller has been breathing poetry and fire into the poetry world for more than 35 years. He believes that words matter and that they can change the world; and so he sets about doing that in the guise of personal and intimate verse. But each whisper packs a punch and so his love/ family/ and historical writings are about social justice and individual freedom for all. That's why we're proud to present these poems by a leader in our poetry republic. -Grace Cavalieri