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Poet Laureate Of Philadelphia
Poet Laureate of Philadelphia is a civic position in the City of Philadelphia. The Poet Laureate has been described as an "Ambassador of Poetry". The holder of the position is expected to actively promote literacy and encourage expression in the city. As part of their position, they participate in service work, workshops and readings. One of their commitments is to mentor the Youth Poet Laureate of Philadelphia. The position was created by the City of Philadelphia during the city administration of Mayor Michael Nutter, and continued under Mayor Jim Kenney. It was originally managed by the city's Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy. As of 2017, administration of the program was transferred to the Free Library of Philadelphia. Poets Laureate The position of Poet Laureate of Philadelphia has a two-year duration, and is generally announced in January. *2012-2013 - Sonia Sanchez *2014-2015 - Frank Sherlock *2016-2017 - Yolanda Wisher *2018-2019 - Raquel Salas Rivera * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City Of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1854, the city has been coextensive with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the Delaware Valley, the nation's seventh-largest and one of world's largest metropolitan regions, with 6.245 million residents . The city's population at the 2020 census was 1,603,797, and over 56 million people live within of Philadelphia. Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Quaker. The city served as capital of the Province of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Colony during the Colonial history of the United States, British colonial era and went on to play a historic and vital role as the central meeting place for the Founding Fathers of the United States, nation's founding fathers whose pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Nutter
Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was reelected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He is a previous member of the Philadelphia City Council from the 4th district and had served as the 52nd Ward Democratic Leader until 1990. Mayor Nutter also served as the President of the United States Conference of Mayors from June 2012 to June 2013. He received an honorary doctorate in public service from Saint Joseph's University in 2015. Nutter is a former member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Currently, he is the David N. Dinkins Professor of Professional Practice in Urban and Public Affairs at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. Early life and education Nutter was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in West Philadelphia. Raised Catholic, he attended elementary school at Transfiguration of Our Lord Catholic Elementar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Kenney
James Francis Kenney (born August 7, 1958) is an American politician who is the 99th Mayor of Philadelphia. Kenney was first elected on November 3, 2015, defeating his Republican rival Melissa Murray Bailey after winning the crowded Democratic primary contest by a landslide on May 19. Before he became mayor, Kenney was a member of the Philadelphia City Council for 23 years, serving as a Councilman at Large from January 1992 until January 29, 2015, when he resigned to run for mayor. Kenney was re-elected to a second term as mayor on November 5, 2019. His term will expire in 2024. Early life Jim Kenney was born on August 7, 1958, in the Whitman neighborhood of South Philadelphia. His father was a firefighter and his mother was a homemaker. His parents both worked second jobs to put Jim and his four siblings through private Catholic schools. In high school, Kenney was a newspaper deliveryman and busboy. Kenney graduated from Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in 1976 and in 198 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Library Of Philadelphia
The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves Philadelphia. It is the 13th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the City of Philadelphia governed by an independent Board of Trustees as per the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation is a separate 501c3 non-profit with its own board of directors and serves to support the mission of the Free Library of Philadelphia through philanthropic dollars. History Founding The Free Library of Philadelphia was chartered in 1891 as "a general library which shall be free to all", through efforts led by Dr. William Pepper, who secured initial funding through a $225,000 bequest from his wealthy uncle, George S. Pepper. However, several libraries claimed the bequest, and only after the courts decided the money was intended to found a new public library did the Free Library finally open in March 1894. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonia Sanchez
Sonia Sanchez (born Wilsonia Benita Driver; September 9, 1934) is an American poet, writer, and professor. She was a leading figure in the Black Arts Movement and has written over a dozen books of poetry, as well as short stories, critical essays, plays, and children's books. In the 1960s, Sanchez released poems in periodicals targeted towards African-American audiences, and published her debut collection, ''Homecoming,'' in 1969. In 1993, she received Pew Fellowship in the Arts, and in 2001 was awarded the Robert Frost Medal for her contributions to the canon of American poetry. She has been influential to other African-American poets, including Krista Franklin. Early life Sanchez was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 9, 1934 to Wilson L. Driver and Lena Jones Driver. Her mother died when Sanchez was only one year old, so she spent several years being shuttled back and forth among relatives. One of those was her grandmother, who died when Sanchez was six. The death of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Sherlock
Frank Sherlock is an American poet, and second Poet Laureate of Philadelphia. He was a 2013 Pew Fellow in the Arts. Life Frank Sherlock was the 2014-15 Poet Laureate of Philadelphia, and a 2013 Pew Fellow in the Arts for Literature. His most recent collection of poems is ''Space Between These Lines Not Dedicated'' (Ixnay Press, 2014.) Sherlock approaches the work of a poet as conduit, and views writing poems as "collaborations of encounter." His projects are often collaborative. ''The City Real and Imagined'' (Factory School, 2010) was written with the poet C. A. Conrad as a re-visioning of public spaces in what they refer to as "the City of Otherly Love." The two embarked on self-guided psycho-geographical wanders through Philadelphia, each beginning at LOVE Park. Sherlock's time in New Orleans in 2006 resulted in a collaboration with poet Brett Evans, entitled ''Ready-To-Eat Individual'' (Lavender Ink, 2008). In an interview with Katy Henriksen for ''Oxford American: New Orl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yolanda Wisher
Yolanda Wisher (born 1976) is an American poet, educator and spoken word artist who focuses on the experience of being African-American. She is a graduate of Temple University and was selected as the third Poet Laureate of Philadelphia in 2016. Education and early life Yolanda Wisher was born in Philadelphia and grew up in North Wales, Pennsylvania. She studied English and Black Studies, obtaining her BA in English and Black Studies from Lafayette College. She received her MA in creative writing from Temple University in 2000. Career Wisher taught English for various years at the Germantown Friends School. She was the founder and director of the Germantown Poetry Festival, a local poetry event in the Germantown, Philadelphia, Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia from 2006 to 2010. From 2010 to 2015, she served as the Director of Art Education for the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. As of 2015, Wisher is a Founding Cultural Agent for thU.S. Department of Arts and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raquel Salas Rivera
Raquel Salas Rivera (born December 26, 1985) is a bilingual Puerto Rican poet who writes in Spanish and English, focusing on the experience of being a migrant to the United States, the colonial status of Puerto Rico, and of identifying as a queer Puerto Rican and Philadelphian of non-binary gender. He has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory from the University of Pennsylvania and was selected as the fourth Poet Laureate of Philadelphia in 2018. He currently lives in Puerto Rico. Education and early life Raquel Salas Rivera was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico and moved to Madison, Wisconsin when he was 6 months old. During his childhood years, he lived in California, Nebraska, Alabama, and Texas. He returned to Puerto Rico during his teenage years and young adulthood, moving to Philadelphia for graduate studies. His grandfather, Sotero Rivera Avilés, was a Puerto Rican poet belonging to the ''Guajana'' Generation, as is his mother, linguist Yolanda Rivera Casti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trapeta Mayson
Trapeta B. Mayson (born 1967) is a Liberian-born poet, teacher, social worker, and non-profit administrator residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. Her writing primarily centers on the experiences of immigrants to the United States, the struggles of people dealing with conflict in Liberia, and the daily lives of average people, especially women and girls. She received a Master of Social Work from Bryn Mawr College and an MBA from Villanova University. She was selected as the fifth Poet Laureate of Philadelphia in 2019. Education and early life Born in Monrovia, Liberia, Mayson immigrated to the United States in 1975 with her family at the age of eight and settled in Philadelphia. She grew up in the North Philadelphia and Germantown neighborhoods. According to Mayson, she considers herself to be a "sum of two continents... two countries, two sets of powerful people: my birth country of Liberia, and my beloved Philadelphia.” She received her undergraduate degree in politica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culture Of Philadelphia
The culture of Philadelphia goes back to 1682 when Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn. Originally inhabited by the Lenape, Philadelphia was envisioned as a place where people could live without fear of persecution because of their religion. As a result, many Quakers, Mennonites, and others came to find refuge within the city. As Philadelphia grew into a major political and economic center of the United States, many different groups of religions and ethnicities flocked to the city. 19th and 20th century immigration and migration led to large concentrations of Irish, Italians, Germans, Asians, Puerto Ricans and African Americans. Philadelphia is still a major center of immigration, with large Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, East African, Middle Eastern, Indian and Mexican immigrant populations, among others. The city's cultural prominence has risen and fallen since its founding. The city has made contributions in art, music, television, architecture and food. Phil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
