Poetry For All

Episode 28: Countee Cullen, Yet Do I Marvel

September 29th, 2021  |  Season 3  |  24 mins 48 secs

20th century, anger, black history month, christianity, guest on the show, harlem renaissance, rhymed verse, social justice and advocacy, sonnet, surprise

Countee Cullen was a major voice of the Harlem Renaissance. Joined by the renowned cultural critic Gerald Early, we here examine together story of Countee Cullen and the astounding sonnet that opens his main collection of poetry, My Soul's High Song.

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 22: Two Poems of World War I

April 27th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  24 mins 43 secs

20th century, grief and loss, guest on the show, modernism, rhymed verse, sonnet, veteran's day

In this episode, we talk with Vince Sherry about two poems of WWI: Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier" and Ivor Gurney's "To His Love." The first poem, a stately beauty, imagines war almost peacefully; the second poem, scarred by combat, speaks back nervously and angrily. We talk through this remarkable set of poems and experiences and examine how a careful use of language conveys their effects.

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 20: Hester Pulter, View But This Tulip

March 29th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  25 mins 44 secs

17th century, christianity, guest on the show, hope, rhymed verse, science and medicine, spirituality

Wendy Wall joins us to discuss an extraordinary poet whose works went unknown for over three hundred years. Hester Pulter brought together science, religion, poetic traditions and so much more. Her 120 remarkable poems are now available at the award-winning Pulter Project website.

Episode 18: Jenny Johnson, Dappled Things

March 2nd, 2021  |  Season 2  |  27 mins 25 secs

21st century, gratitude, guest on the show, joy, lgbtqia month, nature poetry, thanksgiving, wonder

In this episode, Jenny Johnson discusses the sources of inspiration for her poem "Dappled Things," her love of Gerard Manley Hopkins, and the incredible diversity--and fragility--of the natural world.

Episode 12: James Merrill, Christmas Tree

December 2nd, 2020  |  Season 1  |  21 mins 37 secs

20th century, advent/christmas, aging, body in pain, elegy, friendship, grief and loss, guest on the show, intimacy, lgbtqia month, love, science and medicine, visual poetry

Episode 10: Mary Jo Bang, The Head of a Dancer

November 10th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  22 mins 22 secs

21st century, ekphrasis, free verse, guest on the show, intimacy, visual poetry, word and image

This week Mary Jo Bang joins us! We learn about the Bauhaus movement and a photographer named Lucia Moholy. And we look at both ekphrastic poetry (poetry about an image) and prose poetry (poetry with no line breaks).

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.