What exactly constitutes a poem? To some contemporary writers, one might consider a shopping list of milk, eggs, oats and tea a form of poetry. Classicists will look towards narrative epics by the ...

A poem a day keeps the mind at play. That's the beauty of picking up a poetry collection: There's no pressure to read the book cover-to-cover. Readers can take it slow, savoring the verse and emotion.

After four decades, the annual book series is drawing to a close. Our columnist looks at what it all meant. By Elisa Gabbert I wonder if there has ever been more equivocation about the word “best” and ...

Editor’s Note: This story is part of literary special content. Find related stories here. “The coming peril,” wrote the great Catholic writer G.K. Chesterton, “is standardization by a low standard.” ...

For 23 years, A.O. Scott was a film critic for the New York Times. For the past five months, he has been the nation’s most prominent poetry critic, writing a monthly column that uses the Times’ ...