New Poetry Video Series Launches this Week

A new poetry video series launches on Thursday.

The series is Ours Poetica. It's created by the Poetry Foundation and video production company Complexly.

Each week, Ours Poetica will publish a poetry video on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The videos will feature poets, artists, writers, and special guests.

Each person will read a poem of their choosing. Then they'll share why the poem is essential to them.

Scheduled guests include Jacqueline Woodson, Ashley C. Ford, Shailene Woodley, and Erika L. Sanchez.

A Poetry Video Series that's Like Holding a Book

Poet Paige Lewis curates Ours Poetica. In a press release, Lewis explained the motivation for this poetry video series.

"We saw an opportunity to present a complementary and fresh visual way to discover poetry by focusing on the words, the language, and the readers' cadences," Lewis said. "It's as if the viewer is holding the book in their own hands while hearing a poem read aloud."

In the Ours Poetica trailer video below, you see how the poetry video series will show the guest readers. The camera will focus on the reader's hands and the book from which they're reading.

Producing Ours Poetica is John Green and Sarah Urist Green.

Yes, this is the same John Green who wrote The Fault In Our Stars. Green is also a co-founder of Complexly. Sarah Urist Green hosts the PBS online program The Art Assignment. (John and Sarah are married.)

"Poetry is vital and relevant, however as a non-poet myself I understand how it can be viewed as intimidating or academic," said John Green, co-founder of Complexly. "We wanted to break down this potential barrier, and create a show for people who love poetry, and even more so, for people who love poetry but don't know it yet."

A kick-off event will take place Thursday night at Poetry Foundation headquarters in Chicago.

Ours Poetica videos will start publishing on Sep. 16. But you can subscribe to the YouTube channel now.

https://youtu.be/Gw-vpKGVVvU