The tireless debate surrounding the literary canon and the writers that legitimately hold a place within it rages yet again: British Poet Laureate Andrew Motion announced recently to the BBC that Bob ...

1. Read it out loud. 2. Don't be intimidated. As with an abstract painting or an unfamiliar dance form, liking a poem doesn't depend on getting it. 3. Notice what the poem does, not just what it says.

When Ed Madden became the capital city’s poet laureate in January, his first order of business was to be an advocate for literary art — and he had a pretty good idea for how to do it. Put poems inside ...