Hero Essays on Poets

BOTTOM

The following collection of Hero essays about poets was curated by MY HERO Story Editor, Becky Miller. Becky reads and edits approximately 5,000 stories a year, written by students, teachers and life-long learners from the USA, Nepal, Russia, Japan, Senegal, Brazil and more.

Teachers: Visit the free MY HERO Lesson Plan for National Poetry Month. Includes a short film program, discussion guide and learning outcomes.

"A good poem helps to change the shape and significance of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him."

- Dylan Thomas

Mattie Stepanek

By: Jim Hawkins

Mattie Stepanek is a hero to people of all ages around the world.

Mattie Stepanek: For Our World

Mattie Stepanek: For Our World Mattie's poems of peace and hope have touched millions of lives

Hadraawi (Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame)

By: Rebecca Miller

Hadraawi (Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame) is a powerful voice for peace in his country.

Still the "Queen of the Leica"

Credit: Ilse Bing

Maya Angelou

By: Susannah Abbey

Maya Angelou is a beloved female author and poet.

Pablo Neruda

By: Claudia Herrera Hudson

Pablo Neruda is the most widely read Latin-American poet.

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

By: Cassie from Herrin

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson wrote nearly 2,000 poems in her lifetime.

Leopold Sedar Senghor

By: Seck from DAKAR

A. Navoi

By: Eshonkulova Gulrux

A. Navoi wrote poetry over 500 years ago that has withstood the test of time.

Alexander Pushkin

By: Jerrilyn Jacobs

Alexander Pushkin was a Russian poet and writer who is beloved around the world.

"And, as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name."

~ William Shakespeare

Emma Lazarus

By: Olivia from San Antonio

Edgar Allan Poe

By: Rhea from Annapolis

Edgar Allan Poe was a renowned poet who overcame many hardships including depression.

Langston Hughes

By: Jeff Trussell

Langston Hughes was nicknamed the Poet Laureate of Harlem.

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was an African-American poet of the nineteenth century.

W.E.B. Dubois

By: Jennifer Beck

W.E.B. Dubois was a leading 19th century writer and scholar.

William Shakespeare

By: Amanda from Fredericksburg

William Shakespeare wrote plays & poetry that continue to have a lasting effect on readers all over the world.

Henry David Thoreau

By: Nathan S. from Orange

Henry David Thoreau was a naturalist, social philosopher and writer.

Edna St. Vincent Millay

By: Tina from Montvale

Edna St. Vincent Millay was a popular and critically acclaimed poet.

Anna Akhmatova

By: Jerrilyn Jacobs

Anna Akhmatova is considered one of Russia's best poets.

Robert Lee Frost

By: Georgia

Robert Lee Frost was named 'the national bard.'

Frances Ellen Watkins

By: Geeta Malik

Frances Ellen Watkins was a prolific author and poet who devoted her life to speaking out against slavery.

Henry Rago

By: Christina Rago

Henry Rago was a Poet and Professor whose poetry stands the test of time.

Saul Williams

By: Geeta Malik

Saul Williams is a Spoken Word Poet and Slam Champ.

Chairil Anwar

By: Vincentius <br>from Surabaya, Indonesia

Chairil Anwar was a beloved Indonesian poet.

Marina Tsvetaeva

By: Valeriya from Newmarket

Marina Tsvetaeva was a Russian poet and writer who candidly wrote about love and revolution.

Taras Shevchenko

By: Polina from Kremenchuk, Ukraine

Doreen Van Lee

Doreen Van Lee writes about her Chicago childhood.

Ada Aharoni

By: MY HERO Staff

Ada Aharoni works for peace between Israelis and Palestinians with poetry.

Christine de Pisan

By: Andrea Hopkins

Christine de Pisan was a 15th century French poet.

Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg wrote poems, stories and nonfiction about Americans and American life.

Robert Penn Warren

Robert Penn Warren was the first Poet Laureate of the United States.

Strangelove Reads Brown Penny by W. B. Yeats at The MY HERO Project's 2015 Jazz and Poetry Salon

Producer: The MY HERO PROJECT

Strangelove Reads Brown Penny by W. B. Yeats at The MY HERO Project's 2015 Jazz and Poetry Saloby

Christina Rossetti

By: Amber from Richmond

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz

By: Becky from Spokane

Sor Juana is a famous Mexican writer, poet, nun, and influential women's right leader from the late 17th century

Khwajeh Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi

By: Atiyeh from Tehran

Khwajeh Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi is a renowned Iranian poet.

Li Bai

By: Sukey from Flushing

Li Bai is often referred to as the 'God of Poets' in China.

Homer

By: Rory from Fredericksburg

Homer is the author of the Illiad and the Odyssey and the greatest ancient Greek epic poet.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

By: Elizabeth from Texas

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Mahmoud Darwish

By: Wuroud from Jerusalem

Mahmoud Darwish was a beloved Palestinian poet.

Dante Alighieri

By: Camilla from Cairo

Dante Alighieri contributed to Italian culture by his use of the Tuscan language instead of Latin.

DuBose Heyward

By: AMERICAN NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY<h5><br>edited by John Garraty, <br>copyright 199...

DuBose Heyward Wrote most of the lyrics to the famous musical, 'Porgy and Bess.'

Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas wrote: Life will carry on, always with the same vigor.

Isaac Rosenberg

By: Susannah Abbey

Isaac Rosenberg was a poet of the Great War.

France Preseren

By: Andrej from Maribor

France Preseren is the Slovene national poet and inspired Slovene literature.

Mariama Khan

By: Seck from Dakar, Senegal

Mariama Khan writes poetry to champion the cause of the voiceless.

John McCrae

By: David from San Diego

John McCrae was a Canadian soldier, doctor, author, artist, and renowed WWI poet.

Naguib Mahfouz

By: Israa from Alexandria

Robert Munsch

By: Maddie

Robert Munsch is a favorite Canadian writer and poet.

Shel Silverstein

Shel Silverstein was a poet, playwright, lyricist and good friend.

"A poem...begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness. It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where an emotion finds the thought and the thought finds the words."

- Lucille Clifton