Poetry For All

Episode 33: Adrienne Rich, Power

November 10th, 2021  |  Season 3  |  17 mins 21 secs

20th century, ars poetica, body in pain, free verse, guest on the show, lgbtqia month, science and medicine, social justice and advocacy, women's history month

This week, the poet and scholar Stephanie Burt joins us to discuss the extraordinary power of Adrienne Rich. We think through how the spacing and stanzas of a poem can draw out denials and divulgences, while also exploring the life and writing of Rich.

Episode 32: Rick Barot, Cascades 501

November 3rd, 2021  |  Season 3  |  38 mins 32 secs

21st century, asian american & pacific islander month, free verse, guest on the show, lgbtqia month, narrative, nature poetry, surprise

Episode 31: Jane Kenyon, Twilight: After Haying

October 27th, 2021  |  Season 3  |  16 mins 48 secs

20th century, autumn, christianity, free verse, intimacy, nature poetry, night, spirituality

This week we take a closer look at another autumn poem, this one by Jane Kenyon from her wonderful book Otherwise: New and Selected Poems. Kenyon builds from and transforms the same tradition of the autumn ode we examined last week with John Keats.

Episode 26: Brenda Cárdenas, "Our Lady of Sorrows"

September 15th, 2021  |  Season 3  |  21 mins 44 secs

21st century, ekphrasis, erasure, free verse, grief and loss, guest on the show, hispanic heritage month, nature poetry, social justice and advocacy, spirituality, visual poetry, word and image

In this episode, Brenda Cárdenas guides us through a reading of "Our Lady of Sorrows," an ekphrastic poem that is inspired by the work of Ana Mendieta.

Episode 25: William Carlos Williams, "This is Just to Say"

September 8th, 2021  |  Season 3  |  18 mins 13 secs

20th century, free verse, modernism, surprise, wonder

In this episode, we discuss a simple, iconic, "sorry-not sorry" poem from the early age of American modernism, which has taken on new life in the age of Twitter and the pandemic.

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 21: Christian Wiman, I Don't Want to Be a Spice Store

April 13th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  18 mins 45 secs

21st century, children, father's day, free verse, guest on the show, surprise

In this episode we talk with Christian Wiman about the arc of a book of poetry, the structure of an individual poem, the desire for openness and accessibility, and the surprising shifts from levity to seriousness that take even the writer by surprise.

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 11: Alberto Ríos, When Giving Is All We Have

November 17th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  15 mins 46 secs

21st century, free verse, friendship, gratitude, hispanic heritage month, joy, repetition or refrain, thanksgiving

In this episode, we read and discuss a poem about giving by Alberto Ríos, the inaugural state poet laureate of Arizona.