A Child’s Garden of Poetry Wins Primetime Emmy® for Outstanding Children’s Program

CHICAGO—The Poetry Foundation is pleased to announce that A Child’s Garden of Poetry has won a 2011 Primetime Emmy® Award for Outstanding Children’s Program. Produced by HBO/HBO Family in association with the Poetry Foundation, A Child’s Garden of Poetry features whimsical animation, contributions from kids, and readings by notable performers, including Claire Danes, Carrie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ziggy Marley, Dave Matthews, Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Jeffrey Wright, as well as archival recordings from renowned poets e.e. cummings, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Carl Sandburg. 

A Child’s Garden of Poetry is the second collaboration between the Poetry Foundation and director-producer Amy Schatz. Classical Baby (I’m Grown Up Now): The Poetry Show debuted in April 2008 and also won an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Children’s Program.

“We are delighted to be honored once more by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for a program that brings joy—and poetry—to all who watch it, young and old,” said John Barr, president of the Poetry Foundation. “This distinguished award draws renewed attention to poetry’s importance in our culture.”

Emmy® winners were announced during the Creative Arts Awards and Ball at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 10.

Poems featured in the program include:

• “My Shadow,” by Robert Louis Stevenson, read by Julianne Moore
• “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost, read by Philip Seymour Hoffman
• “sweet spring is your time…,” written and read by e.e. cummings
• “An Old Silent Pond,” by Matsuo Basho, read by Josh Hamilton
• “Thoughts on a Still Night,” by Li Bai, read by Fiona, age seven
• “The Tropics in New York,” by Claude McKay, read by Ziggy Marley
• “When You Are Old,” by William Butler Yeats, read by Liam Neeson
• “Harlem 2,” by Langston Hughes, read by Kason, age eight
• “Calico Pie,” words and illustrations by Edward Lear, song by Natalie Merchant
• Excerpts from Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, read by Jeffrey Wright
• “Recuerdo,” written and read by Edna St. Vincent Millay
• “Brother,” by Mary Ann Hoberman, read by Carrie Fisher
•  “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers,” by Emily Dickinson, read by Claire Danes and signed by Rachel, age nine
• “Buffalo Dusk,” written and read by Carl Sandburg
• “Daffodils,” by William Wordsworth, read by Dave Matthews
• “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” by William Butler Yeats, read by Liam Neeson and Emily, age six

An HBO/HBO Family original program, A Child’s Garden of Poetry was created in association with the children’s poetry and media programs at the Poetry Foundation.  It will be released on DVD on November 8, 2011 and is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com.  

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About the Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience. The Poetry Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery, and encouraging new kinds of poetry through innovative literary prizes and programs. For more information, please visit www.poetryfoundation.org.