Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Interesting People Reading Poetry

In this episode, Amy Dickinson reads “Say It” by Roland Flint. Dickinson wrote the beloved daily advice column “Ask Amy,” which appeared in newspapers across the country from 2003 until her retirement in June of 2024. She is also the author of two memoirs and a new Substack newsletter.

Roland Flint was born in Park River, North Dakota in 1934. “Say It” was first published in Say It (Dryad Press, 1979). It appears in The Complete Poems of Roland Flint, published by Elizabeth Flint in 2022.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Facebook.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

In this IPRP Poetry Playlist, U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón reads three selections from the anthology You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World, out now from Milkweed Editions. The collection, edited and introduced by Limón, offers “fifty poems reflecting on our relationship to the natural world by our most celebrated contemporary writers.” Click here to learn more about the anthology, including upcoming events and how to share your own “You Are Here” nature poem.

1. “Reasons to Live” by Ruth Awad

2. “Lullaby for the Grieving” by Ashley M. Jones

3. “Twenty Minutes in the Backyard” by Alberto Ríos

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

In this episode, Theo Padnos reads “The Drunken Boat” by Arthur Rimbaud. Padnos is an American writer and journalist. In 2012, he was kidnapped and held captive for two years by an Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria. His new book about the experience, Blindfold: A Memoir of Capture, Torture, and Enlightenment, was described in the Atlantic as “the best of the genre, profound, poetic, and sowerful.”

Arthur Rimbaud was a French symbolist poet born in 1854. He composed “The Drunken Boat” when he was just 16 years old, and stopped writing poetry altogether in his early twenties.

“The Drunken Boat” by Arthur Rimbaud, translated by Wallace Fowlie, appears in Rimbaud: Complete Works, Selected Letters, published by University of Chicago Press.

Blindfold: A Memoir of Capture, Torture, and Enlightenment by Theo Padnos is available now from Simon & Schuster. To learn more about Theo’s story, we also recommend the documentary Theo Who Lived directed by David Schisgall.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, Hrishikesh Hirway reads “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by William Butler Yeats. Hirway is the creator and host of several acclaimed podcasts, including Home Cooking (with Samin Nosrat), The West Wing Weekly (with Joshua Malina), and Song Exploder (which is now also a Netflix original series). On top of all that, Hirway manages a career as a composer and recording artist. At the beginning of this interview, you’ll hear a short clip from his new single, “Between There and Here (feat. Yo-Yo Ma).”

“The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by William Butler Yeats was written in 1888 and included in his second collection, The Rose, published in 1893. You can likely find an assortment of Yeats’ books at your local independent bookstore.

Keep up with Hrishikesh Hirway on Twitter, Instagram, and at hrishikesh.co. Click here to stream, download, or watch the music video for “Between There and Here (feat. Yo-Yo Ma).” Click here to explore all of Hirway’s many wonderful ongoing projects.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.

This episode uses the sound “Banter Boys” by Nickleus from freesound, licensed under CC BY 3.0.

In this episode, Bon Appétit Editor-in-Chief Dawn Davis reads “Sonnet 171” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Davis joined Bon Appétit in November 2020 following a long career in book publishing. Through her visionary work at Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins, Davis oversaw the publication of numerous influential best sellers — from “The Pursuit of Happyness” by Chris Gardner to “The Known World” by Edward P. Jones. 

Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American poet born in 1892. She became wildly popular during her lifetime — known for her passionate readings and bold social views — and achieved a special mastery over the sonnet.  

“Sonnet 171” by Edna St. Vincent Millay appears in the volume Collected Poems, published by Harper Perennial Modern Classics. 

Keep up with Dawn Davis on Instagram, and at bonappetit.com. 

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, Grian Chatten reads “The Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Chatten is the frontman of the Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C., recently described by NME as “the new heroes of the rock resurrection.” The members of the group met while attending music college in Dublin and initially bonded over a shared love for Irish literature. Their second album, A Hero’s Death, has been nominated for a 2021 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.

Gerard Manley Hopkins was an English poet and Jesuit priest who spent the last years of his life as a professor of Greek and Latin at University College Dublin. His poems were not published until 30 years after his death in 1889.

“The Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins appears in Gerard Manley Hopkins: The Major Works, published by Oxford University Press.

Keep up with Fontaines D.C. on Twitter, Instagram, and at fontainesdc.com. Click here to watch the music video for “Big,” the song heard briefly at the beginning of this episode.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, Alec Soth reads “Of Modern Poetry” by Wallace Stevens. Soth is a photographer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has published over twenty-five books and has been called a “living legend” and “one of the most important photographers working today” by the Washington Post.

Soth’s recent photo book, I Know How Furiously Your Heart is Beating, is a stunning collection of portraits and interiors from around the world. Soth has described the collection as an attempt to “strip the [photographic] medium down to it’s primary elements.” The collection takes its title from an early poem by the American modernist Wallace Stevens, whose meditations on poetry and aesthetics have helped shape Soth’s understanding of his own work.

“Of Modern Poetry” by Wallace Stevens appears in The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens, published by Vintage.

Keep up with Alec Soth on Instagram and at alecsoth.com. His new collaborative book with C. Fausto Cabrera is available here for preorder.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, Sheryl Paul reads from “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman. Paul is a counselor working in the tradition of Jungian depth psychology. She runs the popular blog and website, Conscious Transitions, and is the author, most recently, of The Wisdom of Anxiety: How Worry & Intrusive Thoughts Are Gifts to Help You Heal. Paul writes of anxiety not as a disorder to be eradicated, but as a wise messenger from the unconscious and an invitation to self-trust.

A key companion on Paul’s own journey to self-trust has been the legendary American poet Walt Whitman. His 52-part epic, “Song of Myself”, first published in the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass, is among the most beloved and influential poems in the American tradition.

Keep up with Sheryl Paul on Instagram, Facebook, and at conscious-transitions.com.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, Jennifer Crandall reads “Keeping Things Whole” by Mark Strand. Crandall is a documentary filmmaker and journalist. She is the creator, most recently, of Whitman, Alabama – a must-watch web series in which Alabama residents recite passages from Walt Whitman’s poem, “Song of Myself.” Crandall has described the project as “an experiment in using documentary and poetry to reveal the threads that tie us together — as people, as states, and as a nation.”

“Keeping Things Whole” by Mark Strand appears in the volume, Collected Poems, published by Alfred A Knopf.

Keep up with Jennifer Crandall on Twitter and at jenncrandall.com.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, Robert Alter reads from his translation of the Song of Songs. Alter is a literary critic and translator based at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2018, he published a landmark, one-man translation of the entire Hebrew Bible – the culmination of over two decades of scholarship.

The Song of Songs – sometimes referred to as the Song of Solomon – is a book of the Hebrew Bible, typically dated to the 4th century BCE.

The Song of Songs, 4:8 – 5:1, translated by Robert Alter, appears in The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary published W.W. Norton & Company.

We feature one short listener contribution at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read something after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, Enrique Martínez Celaya reads “Elegy for Ramón Sijé” by Miguel Hernández. Martínez Celaya is a world-renowned painter, sculptor, and the author of On Art & Mindfulness, among other books. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

Miguel Hernández (1910-1942) was an early 20th-century Spanish poet. The elegy featured in this episode was written after the death of his close friend and mentor, Ramón Sijé, in 1935.

The score heard throughout this episode was created using samples from a musical setting of the poem by Spanish singer-songwriter Joan Manuel Serrat.

“Elegy for Ramón Sijé” by Miguel Hernández, translated by Edwin Honig, appears in the book The Unending Lightning, published by Sheep Meadow Press.

Keep up with Enrique Martínez Celaya on Facebook and www.martinezcelaya.com.

We feature one short listener contribution at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read something after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, composer Libby Larsen reads “Wolf Song in Los Angeles” by Bill Holm. Larsen is one of the most prolific and most performed living American composers. Bill Holm (1943 – 2009) was a poet and essayist who lived in western Minnesota. Throughout the episode, you’ll hear excerpts from Larsen’s musical setting of “Wolf Song in Los Angeles” – performed by Clara Osowski, with piano accompaniment by Casey Rafn.

“Wolf Song in Los Angeles” by Bill Holm appears in the collection The Dead Get by With Everything, published by Milkweed Editions.

Keep up with Libby Larsen on Facebook and libbylarsen.com.

Keep up with Clara Osowski on Twitter, Facebook, and claraosowski.com.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, Roy Foster reads “Sailing to Byzantium” by William Butler Yeats. Foster is Emeritus Professor of Irish History at the University of Oxford and the author of many books, including his classic, two-volume biography of Yeats, published in 1997 and 2003. In a review of the first volume published in the New York Review of Books, the Irish novelist John Banville wrote: “W.B. Yeats: A Life is a great and important work, a triumph of scholarship, thought, and empathy such as one would hardly have thought possible in this age of disillusion. It is an achievement wholly of a scale with its heroic subject.”

“Sailing to Byzantium” by William Butler Yeats was first published in 1927 and included in his magnificent collection, The Tower, published in 1928. To learn more about Yeats’ life and work, look no further than Roy Foster’s W.B Yeats: A Life, Vol. I: The Apprentice Mage and Vol. II: The Arch-Poet.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Facebook.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

In this episode, On Being Project founder and CEO Krista Tippett reads “God speaks to each of us as he makes us” by Rainer Maria Rilke. She shares how the poem gave her courage and resolve during the creation of her public radio show, Speaking of Faith, in 2003. In the years since, Speaking of Faith has grown and evolved into The On Being Project, a media and public life initiative exploring the intersection of spiritual inquiry, science, social healing, community, poetry, and the arts. Tippett’s latest book is Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living.

“God speaks to each of us as he makes us” by Rainer Maria Rilke appears in the collection Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy, and published by Riverhead Books.

Keep up with Krista Tippett on Twitter and onbeing.org.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar reads “Conversations about home (at the deportation centre)” by Warsan Shire and reflects on the many meanings of home. On November 6, 2018, Omar became the first Somali American, and one of the first two Muslim women elected to U.S. Congress. She represents Minnesota’s 5th congressional district. This interview was recorded in 2017, when Omar was still serving in the Minnesota State House of Representatives.

“Conversations about home (at the deportation centre),” by Warsan Shire, appears in the pamphlet, Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth, from Flipped Eye Publishing.

Keep up with Ilhan Omar on Twitter, Facebook, and ilhanomar.com.

As always, the Haiku Hotline (612-440-0643) is open for your short poems and poetic musings.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, entomologist Dr. Marla Spivak reads “When Grapes Turn to Wine” by Rumi and discusses how Rumi can teach us to “think like bee.” Dr. Spivak is a MacArthur “genius” Fellow known for her groundbreaking research on bee behavior and biology.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2xyntSd8WxczMfrBoaPgfP

“When Grapes Turn to Wine” by Rumi, translated by Robert Bly, appears in the book If Bees Are Few: A Hive of Bee Poems, published by University of Minnesota Press. A portion of all proceeds from the book are donated to support research at the University of Minnesota Bee Lab.

We feature one listener haiku at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, playwright Harrison David Rivers reads “For My Own Protection” by Essex Hemphill and discusses the use of the poem in his recent play, This Bitter Earth. Rivers is the recipient of fellowships from the McKnight and Jerome Foundations and is a core writer at the Playwright’s Center.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1prSuXPitknNPj26IItVnr

“For My Own Protection” by Essex Hemphill appears in the collection Ceremonies, published by Plume.

Keep up with Harrison David Rivers at harrisondavidrivers.com

We feature one listener haiku at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, writer Chris Kraus reads “Miserable Life” by Steve Levine and discusses how New York School poetry influenced the development of her distinctive style. Kraus is the author of I Love Dick (now an Amazon Original Series) and, most recently, After Kathy Acker.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Iz5hjra5tUmof9lteqMIz

“Miserable Life” is used by permission from To and For (Coffee House Press, 1992). Copyright © 1992 by Steve Levine.

Keep up with Chris Kraus’ latest releases at Semiotext(e).

We feature one listener haiku at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or RadioPublic.

In this episode, Amy Thielen reads “Death Again” by Jim Harrison and explores the relationship between great food and great literature. Amy Thielen is a chef and two-time James Beard Award-winning writer. She’s the author of The New Midwestern Table (a cookbook) and Give a Girl a Knife (a memoir). She’s also the host of Heartland Table on Food Network.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1yNSSk9sPxW4c5cRPJoCD2

“Death Again” by Jim Harrison appears in Songs of Unreason, published by Copper Canyon Press.

Keep up with Amy Thielen on Twitter, Facebook, and at amythielen.com.

We feature one listener haiku at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, DJ Rekha reads “A Litany for Survival” by Audre Lorde and discusses dancing as an antidote to fear. DJ Rekha is a producer, curator, and educator based in New York City. Her classic debut album, DJ Rekha presents Basement Bhangra, was released in 2007. Her monthly party, Basement Bhangra, ran from 1997 to the summer of 2017 – making it one of the most influential and longest continuously running parties in NYC history.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1IWAgdMXO7reV6Kqlv7wJ5

“A Litany for Survival” by Audrey Lorde appears in The Black Unicorn, published by W.W. Norton & Company.

Keep up with DJ Rekha on Twitter, Facebook, and at djrekha.com.

We feature one listener haiku at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

We’re celebrating the last episode of our first season with a special double feature, recorded live at Java River Cafe in Montevideo, Minnesota. Our guests are Chris Koza and Malena Handeen.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/56kICspS4nhXkqOVJ02gQT

Chris Koza is the frontman of the Americana rock band Rogue Valley. In this interview, he reads a poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith that helped inspire his new side project, Nobody Kid.

Malena Handeen is a painter, songwriter, and organic vegetable farmer based in Western Minnesota. In this episode, she reads a poem by Tyehimba Jess and discusses how the weather affects her creative life.

Later on, members of our audience participate in our first ever live Haiku Hotline.

“The Museum of Obsolescence” by Tracy K. Smith appears in the book Life on Mars, published by Graywolf Press. “What the Wind, Rain and Thunder Said to Tom” by Tyehimba Jess appears in the book Olio, published by Wave Books.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, or Stitcher.

In this episode, comedian Mary Mack reads “Attention Please! Attention Please!” by Roald Dahl. Mack is a nationally touring stand-up comic, beloved for her singular oddball folk humor. She’s been on Conan and WTF with Marc Maron. Her latest album is Ms. Taco Man.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6oriFW3sFt7escNtRWmnDC

“Attention Please! Attention Please!” by Roald Dahl appears in the book Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, published by Puffin Books.

Keep up with Mary Mack on Facebook, Twitter, and marymackcomedy.com.

As always, the Haiku Hotline (612-440-0643) is open for your short poems and poetic musings.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, or Stitcher.

In this episode, Nekima Levy-Pounds reads “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou and discusses the strength she draws from the resilience of her ancestors. Pounds is a decorated attorney, ordained Reverend, and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/10ebQ6GtMKVEsCEeU0BKj3

“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou appears in the collection And Still I Rise, published by Random House.

Keep up with Dr. Pounds on Twitter and nekimalevypounds.com.

As always, the Haiku Hotline (612-440-0643) is open for your short poems and poetic musings.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, or Stitcher.

In this IPRP Poetry Playlist, our host Brendan Stermer reads three poems from his debut chapbook, Forgotten Frequencies, out now from North Dakota State University Press. The books were printed in a limited edition at The Braddock News Letterpress Museum in Braddock, ND and assembled by hand by students in the publishing program at North Dakota State University in Fargo. Forgotten Frequencies was selected as the winner of the 2023 Poetry of the Plains & Prairies Award and named a 2024 Midwest Book Awards finalist. Purchase a signed copy of Forgotten Frequencies here.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

In this episode, Kao Kalia Yang reads “To the Placenta of Return” by Mai Der Vang and discusses the sacrifices mothers made to protect their families during America’s Secret War in Laos. Over the course of two award-winning memoirs, Yang has charted the physical, political, emotional, and spiritual terrain of the Hmong journey to the United States in the aftermath of that war. Her books include The Latehomecomer and The Song Poet.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5erz1o9olZA3ekw8baxZO2

“To the Placenta of Return” by Mai Der Vang appears in the collection Afterland, published by Graywolf Press.

Keep up with Kao Kalia Yang on Facebook, Twitter, and kaokaliayang.com.

As always, the Haiku Hotline (612-440-0643) is open for your short poems and poetic musings.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, or Stitcher.

In this episode, evolutionary biologist Rob Wallace reads “The Sea is History” by Derek Walcott and discusses the importance of questioning historical narratives that justify the status quo. Wallace was alt-CDC before it was a Twitter handle. He blogs at Farming Pathogens and is the author of “Big Farms Make Big Flu: Dispatches on Infectious Disease, Agribusiness, and the Nature of Science,” in which he presents research drawing lines between the economic model of corporate farming and the emergence of new, deadlier strains of influenza. He’s based at the University of Minnesota Institute for Global Studies.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7pHcyJkDEql7ZL7mlPayqw

“The Sea is History,” by Derek Walcott appears in the collection Selected Poems published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Keep up with Rob Wallace at Farming Pathogens.

As always, the Haiku Hotline (612-440-0643) is open for your short poems and poetic musings.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, or Stitcher.

In this episode Gaelynn Lea reads “53” by E.E. Cummings and discusses the importance of acknowledging the duality of light and darkness in life. Lea is a folk singer, disability advocate, and the winner of the 2016 NPR Tiny Desk Contest. The music in this interview is from Lea’s album, The Songs We Sing Along the Way. Her latest album is Learning How to Stay.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2onRwY1QJo8ygFToSuQclo

“53” by E. E. Cummings appears in the collection 100 Selected Poems from Grove Press.

Keep up with Gaelynn Lea on Facebook, Twitter, and violinscratches.com.

As always, the Haiku Hotline (612-440-0643) is open for your short poems and poetic musings.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, or Stitcher.

In this episode, Waziyatawin reads “Cry Your Tears” by John Trudell and explores the complexities of solidarity. Waziyatawin is a leading Dakota intellectual, activist, and the executive director of Makoce Ikikcupi, a non-profit dedicated to Dakota land recovery. Her influential book, What Does Justice Look Like? is available from Living Justice Press.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6MTDH7XwhkBDeJmqPg4g7P

“Cry Your Tears,” by John Trudell, appears in his collection, Lines From a Mined Mind, © 2008, Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, CO. The music in this interview is excerpted from Trudell’s song “Cry Your Tears,” from the album Madness and the Moremes.

As always, the Haiku Hotline (612-440-0643) is open for your short poems and poetic musings.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, or Stitcher.

In this episode, Benjamin Percy reads “At the Lowe’s Home Improvement Center” by Brian Turner. Percy writes the Green Arrow and Teen Titans series’ for DC Comics, and recently published a terrifying fourth novel, “The Dark Net.”

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2ZC1YpjADluDA1k7mLfy9L

“At the Lowe’s Home Improvement Center,” by Brian Turner, appears in his collection, Phantom Noise, published by Alice James Books.

Keep up with Benjamin Percy on Twitter, Facebook, and benjaminpercy.com.

As always, the Haiku Hotline (612-440-0643) is open for your short poems and poetic musings.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, or Stitcher.

In this episode, composer Maria Schneider reads “Walking by Flashlight” by Ted Kooser and discusses the process of setting poems to music. Schneider’s 2016 album, The Thompson Fields, won the Grammy for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album and includes a musical setting of “Walking by Flashlight.”

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4u6u1ct7RZBPTWDHnqqRDS

“Walking by Flashlight,” by Ted Kooser, appears in the book, Winter Morning Walks: 100 Postcards to Jim Harrison, published by Carnegie Mellon.

Keep up with Maria Schneider at mariaschneider.com.

As always, the Haiku Hotline (612-440-0643) is open for your short poems and poetic musings.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, musician and writer Dessa reads an excerpt from “Natural Enemies of the Conch” by Alan Dugan. Dessa first gained prominence as a rapper with the Twin Cities hip hop collective Doomtree, but has since worked across many genres and creative disciplines. She has collaborated with the Minnesota Orchestra, published a memoir and poetry collections, and even hosted a BBC science podcast. Her fantastic new album, Bury the Lede, is an embrace of dance floor-ready pop music. 

Alan Dugan was an American poet born in New York City in 1923. “Natural Enemies of the Conch” appears in Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry, published by Seven Stories Press.

In 2026, Seven Stories Press announced the publication of a new selection of Dugan’s work, Love Poems. The press describes the book as reflecting “the core of his art, blending hurt and hardship with a powerful belief in the driving force that love is.”

Keep up with Dessa on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and at dessawander.com. 

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Facebook.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

For each IPRP Poetry Playlist, we curate a selection of three poems, loosely thematically related, presented with musical score, but without any commentary or historical context. We encourage you to approach these short episodes with the same relaxed attitude you might take toward a playlist on a burnt CD, given to you by a friend, which you casually pop in on a long road trip. Don’t worry about perfect comprehension, and steer clear of academic analysis. Just turn up the volume, roll down your windows, and enjoy the ride.

1. “Little Exercise” by Elizabeth Bishop appears in Poems, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

2. “Love For Other Things” by Tom Hennen appears in Darkness Sticks to Everything, published by Copper Canyon Press.

3. “The Lady Speaks” by William Carlos Williams appears in The Collected Poems: Volume II, 1939-1962, published by New Directions.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

In this episode, Tish Harrison Warren reads “Possible Answers to Prayer” by Scott Cairns. Warren is an Anglican priest and the author of two award-winning books, Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night. She also writes a weekly newsletter for the New York Times on “faith in private life and public discourse.” 

“Possible Answers to Prayer” by Scott Cairns appears in Slow Pilgrim, published by Paraclete Press. Cairns is an American poet born in 1954. Much of his work explores spiritual themes and is influenced by his Eastern Orthodox faith.

Keep up with Tish Harrison Warren on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and at tishharrisonwarren.com. 

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Facebook.

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Vocalism, measure, concentration, determination, and the divine power to speak words; Are you full-lung’d and limber-lipp’d from long trial? from vigorous practice? from physique?

–WALT WHITMAN

What would it be like to experience a selection of poems with the same relaxed attitude you might take toward a playlist on a burnt CD, given to you by a friend, which you casually pop in on a long road trip? That’s the question we’re exploring with this new, extra-short episode format, which we’ll be publishing in-between our full-length releases.

We’re calling it a Poetry Playlist: three poems, loosely thematically related, presented with musical score, but without any commentary or historical context. Don’t worry about perfect comprehension, and steer clear of academic analysis. Just turn up the volume, roll down your windows, and enjoy the ride.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4hED7uFa96T1z9GH9VeQWg

1. “Vocalism” by Walt Whitman

2. “Introduction to the Songs of Experience” by William Blake

3. “To the Roaring Wind” by Wallace Stevens

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In this episode, Alissa Rubin reads an excerpt from the ancient Greek epic The Iliad. Rubin is a Senior International Correspondent for The New York Times. She worked previously as the Bureau Chief in Baghdad, Paris, and Kabul. In 2016, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting for “thoroughly reported and movingly written accounts giving voice to Afghan women who were forced to endure unspeakable cruelties.”

The passage that Rubin selected is from the very last book of The Iliad, and portrays an encounter between the Trojan King Priam and the Greek warrior Achilles. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, all you really need to know — for our purposes — is that Priam’s son killed Achilles’ best friend in combat, and Achilles then killed Priam’s son in retribution. At the point where we meet them, Achilles has been dragging the body of his slain enemy behind his chariot for twelve days, and Priam has come in person to his enemy’s encampment to plead for the return of his son’s body. 

The Iliad by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles, is published by Penguin Random House.

Alissa Rubin’s reporting – including her recent must-read coverage on climate change in the Middle East – is available to subscribers of The New York Times.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.

In this episode, Makoto Fujimura reads an excerpt from “Burnt Norton” by T. S. Eliot. Fujimura is a leading contemporary painter whose work fuses abstract expressionism with traditional Japanese painting styles. He is also the author of several books, including Art + Faith: A Theology of Making, out now from Yale University Press.

T. S. Eliot was an influential modernist poet, playwright, and literary critic born in St. Louis in 1888. His late masterpiece, Four Quartets, is a collection of four linked poems partially inspired, in sound and structure, by Beethoven’s late string quartets. “Burnt Norton,” the first poem in the series, was written while Eliot was living in England in 1935.

“Burnt Norton” by T. S. Eliot appears in Four Quartets, published by Ecco.

Art + Faith: A Theology of Making by Makoto Fujimura is available now from Yale University Press. Keep up with Fujiumura – and explore his recent visual art – on his website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Subscribe on RadioPublic, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.

This IPRP Poetry Playlist features a selection of archival recordings from PennSound, a project of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing at the University of Pennsylvania. The PennSound website includes an extensive audio archive with free recordings of hundreds of poets reading their own work.

1. “Long Track Blues” by Sterling Brown appears in The Collected Poems of Sterling A. Brown, published by TriQuarterly. A recording of the poem is included in the Sterling Brown archive on PennSound.

2. “Rails in the Subway” by Charles Reznikoff appears in The Poems Of Charles Reznikoff: 1918-1975, published by Black Sparrow Press. A recording of the poem is included in the Charles Reznikoff archive on PennSound.

3. “At North Farm” by John Ashbery appears in Selected Poems, published by Penguin Books. A recording of the poem is included in the John Ashbery archive on PennSound.

This episode uses the sounds “Accordion drone” and “Untuned piano” by adrianorhagen from freesound.org under the Attribution 4.0 license.

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In this episode, novelist Lisa Ko reads “Don’t You Wonder, Sometimes?” by Tracy K. Smith. Ko’s first book, The Leavers, was a 2017 National Book Award finalist. Her most recent book, Memory Piece (Riverhead Books, 2024) was described in Electric Literature as “a poignant meditation on late-stage capitalism: what it means to exist in an age of surveillance and government tracking, what it means to create art in an era where identity itself is commodified, and what it means to find purpose.” 

Tracy K. Smith is an American poet born in 1972. “Don’t You Wonder, Sometimes?” was first collected in Life on Mars (Graywolf Press, 2011), winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. The poem is also included in Such Color: New and Selected Poems (Graywolf Press, 2021).

Keep up with Lisa Ko at lisa-ko.com.

We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Facebook.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

This special episode introduces a new ambient album by Andy Stermer, who composes all of our music. Of Modern Poetry is inspired by a selection of poetic masterpieces from the mid-19th through mid-20th centuries, all of which have been featured previously on this show. The seven compositions, arranged chronologically according to the date of each poem’s first publication, offer what we hope you’ll find to be a richly textured sonic meditation on the origins and development of modern poetry. 

Earlier versions of Andy’s compositions were inspired by recitations and remarks made by the following guests: Sheryl Paul, Theo Padnos, Grian Chatten, Hrishikesh Hirway, Krista Tippett, Enrique Martínez Celaya, and Alec Soth.  

The album is accompanied by a limited-edition chapbook anthology featuring each of the poems that inspired Andy’s compositions. The books were designed, printed, and assembled by Brendan Stermer, in collaboration with Salome Hauge. 

Both the album and the book are available for purchase on Bandcamp. All proceeds will be used to support the continued production of this show. 

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