Robert Pinsky on Poems that Inspire and Endure

Robert Pinksy is a tireless champion of poetry for the public. The former US poet laureate and BU professor has published more than 15 books of his own writing. And he's worked hard to expand poetry's presence in mainstream culture, and to attract naysayers to poetry in unexpected ways.

While poet laureate, Pinsky founded the Favorite Poem Project, in which thousands of ordinary Americans shared, read, and spoke about poems they love. More recently, he's been setting his poetry to jazz. He's even made an appearance on The Simpsons, playing himself giving a poetry reading.

Robert Pinsky's latest book is called Singing School. It's an anthology of 80 poems by master poets designed to energize and inspire us to read — and maybe even write — poetry.

Robert Pinsky, professor of poetry at Boston University, poetry editor for Slate magazine, and former US poet laureate.