Skip to Main Content
Boston University
  • Bostonia
  • BU Today
  • The Brink
  • University Publications

    • Bostonia
    • BU Today
    • The Brink
  • School & College Publications

    • The Record
Other Publications
BU Today
  • Sections
News, Opinion, Community

Boston magazine highlights Pinsky in October issue

Robert Pinsky, former U.S. poet laureate and CAS professor, is one of Boston’s most brilliant brains.

October 17, 2006
  • Ana Rivas (COM’07)
Twitter Facebook

How do you write a poem? Robert Pinsky, a College of Arts and Sciences professor of English and a former U.S. poet laureate, answered that difficult question in the October 2006 issue of Boston magazine in a way that makes writing poetry seem easy.

“Play with the sounds until the meanings get hot,” he says.

Featured in the magazine’s special issue about the people who make Boston “the smartest city on the planet,” Pinsky founded the Favorite Poem Project in 1997 during the first of his unprecedented three terms as poet laureate to encourage Americans to celebrate and explore their love of poetry. Since then, the project — now directed by BU poet Maggie Dietz (GRS’97) — has produced three anthologies and sparked more than 1,000 readings around the country.

“By reading poems we love aloud, we can learn how much pleasure there can be in the sounds of words,” Pinsky says. “It’s as though saying the words of a poem aloud make one feel more able, more capable than in ordinary life. You enter a different state.”

The renowned poet, critic, and translator is the poetry editor of Slate and has contributed to The Nation magazine and PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Among Pinsky’s books of poems are Jersey Rain (2000) and The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems, 1966-1996 (1996), which received the Lenore Marshall Award and the Ambassador Book Award of the English-Speaking Union and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry.

Explore Related Topics:

  • Boston
  • Faculty
  • Literature
  • Local
  • Poetry
  • Share this story

Share

Boston magazine highlights Pinsky in October issue

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Latest from BU Today

  • University News

    Elise Morgan Named BU College of Engineering Dean

  • Public Health

    Grilled Meats Can Be Carcinogenic. BU Health Researcher’s Tips on Preparing Them More Safely

  • Things-to-do

    See a Concert Under the Stars with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, Featuring BU Faculty

  • Watch Now

    BU, but Make It Emoji

  • NATIONAL ICE CREAM DAY

    How to Celebrate National Ice Cream Day

  • Health & Medicine

    Why Is Everyone So Obsessed with Protein? BU Nutrition Expert Has Some Answers

  • Sports

    BU Table Tennis Player Headed to World Championships in Germany

  • Public Health

    Americans Are Buying More European Sunscreens. Are They Better Than Domestic Ones?

  • Film & TV

    Did You Win Starbucks Gift Cards in Our Superman Trivia Quiz?

  • Social Media

    A Viral Marriage Proposal Raises Privacy Questions in the Social Media Age

  • Things-to-do

    Our List of Outdoor Concerts to Enjoy This Summer

  • Arts & Culture

    This CFA Student Is Using Art to Help Medical Patients

  • Film & TV

    Why Do We Keep Watching Reality Dating Shows?

  • University News

    Boston University Announces Budget Cuts, Layoffs Amid Financial Pressures

  • Social Media

    COM Class Teaches Students How to Promote Their Content Online

  • Things-to-do

    How to Spend the July Fourth Weekend in Boston

  • Things-to-do

    Best Places to Watch Fireworks in Boston This Fourth of July

  • 25 Charles River Campus Faculty Receive Promotions

  • Books

    With Summer Officially Here, 10 Great Beach Reads

  • Things-to-do

    Want to Beat the Summer Heat? Check Out One of the Boston Area’s Many Public Pools

Section navigation

  • Sections
  • Must Reads
  • Videos
  • Series
  • Close-ups
  • Archives
  • About + Contact
Get Our Email

Explore Our Publications

Bostonia

Boston University’s Alumni Magazine

BU Today

News, Opinion, Community

The Brink

Pioneering Research from Boston University

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Weibo
  • TikTok
© Boston University. All rights reserved. www.bu.edu
© 2025 Trustees of Boston UniversityPrivacy StatementAccessibility
Boston University
Notice of Non-Discrimination: Boston University prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, natural or protective hairstyle, religion, sex or gender, age, national origin, ethnicity, shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, military service, marital, parental, veteran status, or any other legally protected status in any and all educational programs or activities operated by Boston University. Retaliation is also prohibited. Please refer questions or concerns about Title IX, discrimination based on any other status protected by law or BU policy, or retaliation to Boston University’s Executive Director of Equal Opportunity/Title IX Coordinator, at titleix@bu.edu or (617) 358-1796. Read Boston University’s full Notice of Nondiscrimination.
Search
Boston University Masterplate
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Boston magazine highlights Pinsky in October issue
0
share this