Billy Collins

In a pivotal moment of the Friday, April 1, premiere of CBS' "Chaos," CIA agent Rick Martinez eats a live scorpion. Surrounded by a band of machete- and gun-wielding rebels, in the middle of a desert, he's putting them on notice that he's crazy tough....

Words & Ideas Compiled by Grace Krilanovich. SUNDAY Tamim Ansary: The author of "Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes" will discuss and sign his new book. Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena. 2 p.m. Free...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama's evening of poetry at the White House set off Republican critics before the artists had uttered a word. The first lady invited prominent writers, musicians and a rapper to perform Wednesday night to showcase the...

The Winter Park Institute (WPI) kicks off its third season of seminars, lectures, readings, master classes, performances, open discussions and exhibits (whew!) on Sunday, Sept. 19. As usual, the event is  free and open to the public.  It takes plac...

When the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival kicks off Thursday night, some in the crowd will remember that it almost didn't happen. The nation's largest all-poetry festival -- lasting four days, with almost 20,000 attendees -- was nearly a victim......

At the end of the calendar year, bookstores are swamped with anthologies proclaiming the "best of" writing of the year. There is, apparently, a lot of really good writing: above is just a sample of the galleys and paperbacks that......

Three Southern California poets are among those who will receive 2011 literature fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, it was announced Tuesday. Out of more than 1,000 applicants, 42 poets were selected; each will receive $25,000. Maggie...

One thing to know about your club: We meet at one another's homes once a month in the Printers Row and Dearborn Park areas of the South Loop. We try to match the food we serve to the book we are reading. Every July, we read poetry to one another on the...

Garrison Keillor plans retirement from radio, but not books....

By Joseph Freeman, Orlando Sentinel Narrated by the calming vocal chords of Garrison Keillor, The Writer's Almanac is National Public Radio's daily, five-minute run down of notable moments in literary history. Mostly, we get the birthdays and brief...