Biography

Carolyn Forché was born in Detroit, Michigan on April 28, 1950. She is a poet, teacher, activist, translator, teacher, political poet, human rights advocate. She calls herself a "poet of witness" because she "... has witnessed, thought about, and put into poetry some of the most devastating events of the twentieth-century world history." (Poetry foundation) She advocates the importance of human rights within her poems. Carolyn Forché has won many awards and grants and is currently "...director of the Lannan Center for Poetry and Poetics and holds the Lannan Chair in Poetry at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C." (poet.org)


Sources Cited:

Brunner, Eric. "Carolyn Forché's Life and Career." Modern American Poetry. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept.     2017. <http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/forche/life.htm>.

"Carolyn Forché." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2017.
    <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/carolyn-forche>.

"Carolyn Forché." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 29 Apr. 2016. Web. 24 Sept. 2017.    
    <https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/carolyn-forch%C3%A9>.

Introduction

My name is Duyen Huynh and the poet I chose is Carolyn Forché. I chose her because she raises awareness towards the problems that are around us through her poems which gives the readers a first-person perspective of an event. We are able to view events that happened even before we were born, and we get to experience the emotions and thoughts of a person who lived through it. The themes of her poems center around humanity and human rights; as well as the lives of immigrants living among us and how they are affected by problems from their homeland or place of current residency.

Usner, Don J. "Courtesy of Blue Flower Arts." Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/carolyn-forche.