Poetry For All

Episode 23: Langston Hughes, "Johannesburg Mines"

May 21st, 2021  |  Season 2  |  19 mins 29 secs

20th century, anger, black history month, free verse, grief and loss, laborers, modernism, repetition or refrain, social justice and advocacy

In this episode, we discuss social poetics, poetry of witness, and the places where poetry speaks loudly of silence -- where language fails in the face of trauma. "The worst is not, so long as we can say, 'This is the worst.'"

Episode 15: Amanda Gorman, Chorus of the Captains

February 9th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  17 mins 56 secs

21st century, alliterative verse, black history month, free verse, gratitude, narrative, social justice and advocacy

Amanda Gorman became the first poet ever to perform at the Super Bowl on February 7, 2021. In this episode we talk about poetry for the masses, mass media, genres of poetry, spoken word, the visual and the verbal, and the mix of ancient methods with emergent forms.

Episode 13: Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb

January 25th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  18 mins 48 secs

21st century, black history month, free verse, hope, social justice and advocacy

In this episode, we discuss Amanda Gorman's "The Hill We Climb," the poem that she recited at the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. We discuss how well suited the poem is to its occasion, Gorman's powerful use of sound, and the conversation that she engages in--with John Winthrop, the Constitution, the Bible, George Washington, Maya Angelou, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Like everyone else in America, we are in love with this poem and hope you enjoy the discussion.

For the full text of "The Hill We Climb," please see this page: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/politics/amanda-gorman-inaugural-poem-transcript/index.html

For more on Amanda Gorman, please see personal website: https://www.theamandagorman.com/

Episode 8: Toi Derricotte, "The Minks"

October 20th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  20 mins 18 secs

21st century, black history month, free verse, guest on the show, narrative, surprise, wonder

This week, with special guest Carl Phillips, we take a close look at "The Minks" and consider the art of narrative poetry and the movements of a single-stanza poem.

Episode 5: Claude McKay, "America"

September 29th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  14 mins 40 secs

20th century, anger, black history month, harlem renaissance, modernism, rhymed verse, social justice and advocacy, sonnet

In this episode, we discuss Claude McKay, an influential poet of the Harlem Renaissance, taking a close look at his incredible sonnet "America."

Episode 3: Phillis Wheatley, On Being Brought from Africa to America

September 15th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  14 mins 9 secs

18th century, anger, black history month, christianity, hope, rhymed verse, social justice and advocacy, surprise

This episode examines a short, incredible, difficult and important poem by one of the founding figures of African American literary traditions, Phillis Wheatley.