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MacArthur 'Genius' Ellen Bryant Voigt: 'Poetry Is An Intelligence'

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Ellen Bryant Voigt at her home in Cabot, VT. The poet was recently selected as one of the 2015 MacArthur Fellows.
Ellen Bryant Voigt at her home in Cabot, VT. The poet was recently selected as one of the 2015 MacArthur Fellows.

The poet Ellen Bryant Voigt has lived in Vermont for over 45 years, after growing up on a farm in Virginia. She was the Vermont state poet from 1999 to 2003 and has written eight books of poetry.

Recently, she won the MacArthur 'genius' award for her poetic style, commitment to teaching poetry and service to the Academy of American Poets.

In her latest book of poetry, "Headwaters," Voigt did away with punctuation entirely. Her poems focus on the natural world, and she says that the break in poetic form allows her to observe and describe her surroundings in a new way.

Guest

Ellen Bryant Voigt, poet, teacher and winner of a 2015 MacArthur 'genius' award.

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MacArthur Foundation: Ellen Bryant Voigt

  • "Through her mastery of line and rhythm, she celebrates the grandeur of the poetic form, while her imagery remains rooted in scenes of rural life and close observations of natural phenomena."

Burlington Free Press: Cabot Poet Wins Genius Grant

  • "Voigt, 72, is a former Vermont state poet who has lived in central Vermont since 1969. She started the master's of fine arts writing program at Goddard College in the mid-1970s, the nation's first low-residency graduate writing program."

This segment aired on October 12, 2015.

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