Author of “Postcolonial Love Poem” and “When My Brother Was an Aztec,” Natalie Diaz is Mellon’s 2022-2023 Fellow in Residence.

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A day in the life of a Mellon fellow in residence, as shared by Natalie Diaz, a Pulitzer Prize–winning writer and educator. 

The Words and Wisdom of Natalie Diaz

Race and Revelation in Our American Stories

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How are race and identity driving conversations among Americans of all backgrounds in 2024, and what stories do they reveal about who we are as a vastly diverse country? 

That’s what Freedom Reads is: it’s creating another norm that exists in the system that is woefully lacking norms that lead to possibility, and lead to hope.

In his works “A Question of Freedom” and “Felon,” Reginald Dwayne Betts explores the state of incarceration in America.

A Black author and lawyer stands facing the camera, and wearing a black hat.

Felony and Freedom with Reginald Dwayne Betts

I hate that she always reminds me of all she’s done for Love.

You called it cutting apart, I called it a song.

Within these moments of observation, I am not thinking about this place . . . I’m distracted from the truth that another year has passed in this place.

A hand holding a pen reaches toward a piece of paper set among a design with flowers and birds on a black and dark purple background

Freedom, Put in Writing

“Democracy” by Langston Hughes

Preview: “Democracy” by Langston Hughes

Celebrating National Poetry Month 

She used to say that’s why her poems were so short, because she had six children and no closed doors.

It has been interesting to see how many young people know her work now.

“won’t you celebrate with me”

Lucille Clifton and her six children (left to right): Gillian, Fredrica, Lucille, Alexia, Sidney, Channing, and Graham. Photo: Courtesy of Sidney Clifton

Six children sit with their mother on a porch

A Legendary Poet’s Home Becomes a Sanctuary for Young Artists

[To the class of 2022] I would say: ‘What are you going to do? What is your own personal call to action?’

Farah Jasmine Griffin, a 2022 Mellon Fellow in Residence. Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Farah Jasmine Griffin

An Acclaimed Scholar Reflects on Black Life and Literature

How does poetry resonate in the current moment?

Artist illustration of Elizabeth Alexander and Joy Harjo

Originally livestreamed on March 21, 2022, this event included Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander and poet Joy Harjo.

Reading Poetry, Engaging America

A cross-section of a book is photographed up close in black and white

Public libraries are spaces to access books, information, and increasingly, critical community services. Emily Drabinski, president of ALA, shares experiences from libraries across the US.

Portrait of Emily Drabinsky

Associate Professor

Emily Drabinski

America’s Saving Spaces

“America is for Dreamers,” an exhibit featuring the work of artist Patrick Martinez on display at the Vincent Price Art Museum in Monterey Park, CA in 2018. Photo: Monica Orozco

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Power of the Word

Artists as Catalysts

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Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Civic Engagement

A man in a brown jacket stands in front of blue bulletin board that is covered with papers and advertisements  

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

An interior room filled with audio and video equipment 

Monuments and Memory

A multicolored painted totem pole set in front of a foggy forest landscape

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 