Katie Holmes is teaching her daughter, Suri Cruise, and other children to appreciate the written word. The actress and mom lent her voice to Disney Junior's new show, A Poem Is.... The minute-long snippets will include the work of classic and contemporary poets read by celebrities and paired with animation. The vignettes will air in between full-length shows beginning on Feb. 14. Mom of two Read more

For anyone who thinks texting lingo is ruining the English language, maybe it's time to consider shorthand is really nothing new. People have been shortening words into abbreviations and acronyms for centuries (IOU, an acronym for "I owe you," was coined in 1618), and Victorian poets, those beacons of propriety, were writing abbreviated poetry 150 years ago. Instead of calling it the death of Read more

Am I the last person to learn that prolific children's poet Shel Silverstein had another life as a writer of decidedly adult content? Feels like it! Besides writing Johnny Cash's hit song "A Boy Named Sue," he started his career at Playboy, where he continued to contribute until his death. To me, his poems were the epitome of childhood simplicity and playfulness. So, I was surprised to read one Read more

It appears that these writers aren't the only ones who think Sarah Palin is a poet. Conan O'Brien proclaims she is a master of free verse because of her creative use of language. Conan recently invited the one and only William Shatner onto his show to recite her farewell speech, then brought Shatner back on Wednesday to recite her Tweets. With a bongo player and bass player as background, you can Read more

No matter how you feel about Sarah Palin, you have to admit the woman has an awfully strange way of expressing herself. I've heard her tortured syntax and odd word choices described as a "word salad," but one writer goes further. Palin's speech is likened to a verbal Armageddon because of her unique ability to turn a simple idea into near incomprehensible gobbledygook. Hart Seely has taken these Read more