Birmingham Student Wins National Poetry Award

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2018/08/Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:1795;s:6:"height";i:1003;s:4:"file";s:39:"2018/08/Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:13:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:39:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-336x188.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:188;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:39:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-771x431.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:431;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:39:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:39:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-768x429.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:429;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:40:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-1536x858.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:858;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:37:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:39:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:39:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:39:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-557x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:557;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:39:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-470x263.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:263;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:39:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:39:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:39:"Daniel_Blokh-e1533856352419-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Source: Andrew Yeager
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => WBHM
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_wp_attachment_backup_sizes] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:10:{s:9:"full-orig";a:3:{s:5:"width";i:1920;s:6:"height";i:1081;s:4:"file";s:16:"Daniel_Blokh.jpg";}s:14:"thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"Daniel_Blokh-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:11:"medium-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"Daniel_Blokh-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:10:"large-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"Daniel_Blokh-771x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"wbhm-icon-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"Daniel_Blokh-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"Daniel_Blokh-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"wbhm-featured-square-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"Daniel_Blokh-300x300.jpg";s:5:"width";i:300;s:6:"height";i:300;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:23:"wbhm-featured-home-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"Daniel_Blokh-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:27:"wbhm-featured-carousel-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"Daniel_Blokh-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:19:"post-thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"Daniel_Blokh-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"sizes";a:1:{s:4:"full";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:28:"The file could not be saved.";}}s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:0;s:14:"optimized_size";i:0;s:7:"percent";i:0;}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => error
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 0
        )

)
1656249794 
1533832102

Students at the Alabama School of Fine Arts return to class Monday, and senior Daniel Blokh can honestly say he’s had an eventful summer.  Blokh was recently named a National Student Poet, one of only five selected from across the U.S. It’s awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists and Writers and is among the nation’s highest honors for young poets. For the next year, Blokh will serve as a poetry ambassador through workshops, service projects and public readings. WBHM’s Andrew Yeager spoke with Blokh.

Interview Highlights

On hearing he won the award:

“I was at a writing camp and I got a call in the middle of class. I thought it was just some kind of spam call and I picked up and they were like we have some wonderful news. And I was like can I call you back in two hours? … It’s a big responsibility and a big award and I don’t know how much I feel I deserve it, but I’m happy to have gotten it.”

How being the son of immigrants affects his work:

“I think it’s a really, really complex experience because, on one hand, they’re Russian, Jewish immigrants and so they’re really happy to have come to America both because [of] financial opportunities and also because Russia was very anti-Semitic. But also they miss home. And also they’re always going to be, in a way, strangers here. And that’s an experience that I’m constantly reminded of and I’ve written it feels like a billion poems about and I could write a billion more about.”

Advocating for poetry:

“I think it’s something that a lot of people don’t think they’ll be interested in and then they’re introduced to it and they find they really like it … [The award] to me is an opportunity to show more people that don’t think they’ll be interested in poetry that really it has the power to connect and it’s not this dry, academic thing.”

 

How many kids go to work instead of school?

They toil in mines, tend crops, scrub floors. An author of a new report on child labor points to great progress in reducing the number of kids who work but says the numbers remain "unacceptable."

The paperwork trap: A sneaky way to cut Medicaid in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’?

Republicans want to add work requirements for Americans to get Medicaid. Is that a necessary step to fight "waste, fraud, and abuse" or a sneaky way of cutting the social safety net?

He sued for marriage equality and won. 10 years later, he fears for LGBTQ+ rights

Jim Obergefell, plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage in all 50 states, reflects on the decision 10 years later and the LGBTQ community's current civil rights fight.

‘The Bear’ is back — and leaning into its strengths in Season 4

The new season picks up right where we left off — with a review of the restaurant — and refocuses on the relationships between Carmy, Sydney and Richie.

The Trump administration says it wants to eliminate FEMA. Here’s what we know

Every year, millions of Americans rely on FEMA assistance after hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes and other disasters. The president says state governments should do more.

‘Equal dignity’: U.S. map shows the impact of Obergefell v. Hodges decision

"They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law," then-Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the June 26, 2015, ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. "The Constitution grants them that right."

More Arts and Culture Coverage