Poet and MIT Professor Joshua Bennett marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. with a book-length work of poetry about the country and some of its distinctive figures. The piece features remarkable people or inventions from each of the 50 states, meditating on their place in the nation’s cultural fabric.

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MIT professor and poet Joshua Bennett has published 'We (The People of the United States)' through Penguin Books, a book-length poem marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. founding. The work features one remarkable inventor, artist, or innovator from each of the 50 states — including Zora Neale Hurston, Charles Henry Turner, Brian Wilson, and George Nissen — exploring themes of creativity, struggle, and belonging in American history. Inspired by Virgil's Georgics and poets like Gwendolyn Brooks, Bennett weaves personal family history with broader national narratives, honoring figures who overcame hardship and discrimination to shape the country's cultural fabric.

“We the People” depicts inventors, dreamers, and innovators in all 50 states