. >> lehrer: and jeffrey brown talks with poet rita dove as she sorts through 100 years of american verse. >> to make an anthology that tells you true what the century was like, but also invites you in, is really important. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> computing surrounds us. sometimes it's obvious and sometimes it's very surprising where you find it. soon, computing intelligence in unexpected places will change our lives in truly profound ways. technology can provide customized experiences, tailored to individual consumer preferences, igniti a world of possibilities from the inside out. sponsoring tomorrow starts today. >> and by bnsf railway. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff:

it belongs to rita dove, one of the nation's best-known poets, author of nine volumes of verse, and-- with her husband and fellow writer, fred viebahn-- an accomplished dancer in the studio they built adjacent to their home in charlottesville, virginia. as it turns out, dancing has been one way to let off steam over the past four years as dove took on a major challenge-- sorting through 100 years of poems to create the new "penguin anthology of 20th century american poetry." how to capture such a broad and varied portrait of the country's literary life? dove says she let the poets themselves be her guide. >> i began with the ones you expect, the robert frosts and elizabeth bishop and people like that. and then, i listened to who they were reading, who they were talking to, and began to, you know, fan out that way, which made a big mess, of course. but it was a lively mess, so it was okay. >> brown: well, was it poets or poems that you were more focused on? >> in the beginning, i went with the poets. but then, it became the poems, great poems which somehow encapsulated some energy that

oreo," are given their proper place alongside the aforementioned giants and the greatness of poet rita dove is affirmed in the brilliant concluding chapter. we honor with the american book award 2011 "african-american writers and classical tradition" by william w. cooke and james tatum. we now turn to our second lifetime achievement award this year which goes to the writer and play wright, screen write luis valdez. and we are very, very pleased to have carla blank with us to receive this honor for luis valdez who cannot with us this afternoon. carla blank is the author of "rediscovering america: a multicultural history of the united states, 1900-2000." she is the director of the two-act play, "the master crusaders," which is sponsored by the before columbus foundation. please, join me in welcoming carla blank. [applause] >> luis is a very rare bird. [inaudible] in his neighborhood and remains faithful to his neighborhood while at the same time being accepted by broadway and hollywood. .. as a cultural voice of the united farmworkers movement, kappa sino dramatized the struggles of the farmw