177 episodes

Short and unhurried, Poetry Unbound is an immersive exploration of a single poem, hosted by Pádraig Ó Tuama.

Pádraig Ó Tuama greets you at the doorways of brilliant poems, and invites you to meet them with stories of your world. The poems are eager to meet you, too.

For season 8, we have poems about beasts (dung beetles, horses, eagles and ourselves as well); poems with tensions between parents and children; poems about kingdoms and memories of the dead. There is translation, culture, erotica, water, mortality, and morality.

Already a listener? There’s also a book (Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World), a Substack newsletter with a vibrant conversation in the comments and occasional gatherings.

Poetry Unbound On Being Studios

    • Arts
    • 4.9 • 237 Ratings

Short and unhurried, Poetry Unbound is an immersive exploration of a single poem, hosted by Pádraig Ó Tuama.

Pádraig Ó Tuama greets you at the doorways of brilliant poems, and invites you to meet them with stories of your world. The poems are eager to meet you, too.

For season 8, we have poems about beasts (dung beetles, horses, eagles and ourselves as well); poems with tensions between parents and children; poems about kingdoms and memories of the dead. There is translation, culture, erotica, water, mortality, and morality.

Already a listener? There’s also a book (Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World), a Substack newsletter with a vibrant conversation in the comments and occasional gatherings.

    Thomas Lux — Refrigerator, 1957

    Thomas Lux — Refrigerator, 1957

    If your home were a museum — and they all are, in a way — what would the contents of your refrigerator say about you and those you live with? In his poem “Refrigerator, 1957,” Thomas Lux opens the door to his childhood appliance and oh, does a three-quarters full jar of maraschino cherries speak volumes.

    • 14 min
    Rita Wong — flush

    Rita Wong — flush

    The word “flush” is a verb, as in an activity that we do umpteen times a day. It’s also an adjective that conveys abundance. Fittingly, Rita Wong’s poem “flush” offers a praise song to water’s expansive and unceasing presence in our lives — from our toilets to our teacups, from inside our bodies to outside our buildings, and from our soil to our skies.

    • 15 min
    Maria Dahvana Headley — Beowulf

    Maria Dahvana Headley — Beowulf

    Bro — this is definitely not the “Beowulf” that you read back in school. Maria Dahvana Headley’s gutsy, swaggering translation brings the Old English epic poem roaring into this century, showing you why this tale of fraught family ties, power plays and posturing, and mighty, imperfect people is as relevant as ever.

    • 15 min
    Michael Klein — Swale

    Michael Klein — Swale

    A horse race from the 1980s may not seem like the obvious inspiration for a poem that celebrates so many of the things that make our lives worth living — good company (human and animal), good books, good food, and honest work — and that is just part of the surprise, delight, and surging joy of Michael Klein’s “Swale.”

    • 14 min
    Ray Young Bear — Our Bird Aegis

    Ray Young Bear — Our Bird Aegis

    What holds our bodies together? Yes, there are the biological components, such as the cells, fluids, fibers, but what about the bone-deep stuff, the histories, myths, aches, resolves? In “Our Bird Aegis,” poet Ray Young Bear evokes an adolescent eagle to show how this blend of the visceral, the inherited, and the self-made abides in each of us, no matter our form, wherever we go.

    • 13 min
    Suji Kwock Kim — Search Engine: Notes from the North Korean-Chinese-Russian Border

    Suji Kwock Kim — Search Engine: Notes from the North Korean-Chinese-Russian Border

    While disputes over contested lands result in damage that can be seen and documented, they also create countless unseen ruptures in the hearts, minds and souls of the humans caught in the chaos. By giving voice to yearning, Suji Kwock Kim’s poem “Search Engine: Notes from the North Korean-Chinese-Russian Border” shows how bearing witness and asking the impossible are acts of profound courage, creativity, and defiance.

    • 15 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
237 Ratings

237 Ratings

danimilli ,

Loving it

I love listening to Poetry Unbound, it is such a beautiful way to hear contemporary poetry and an interpretation to look at it from different perspectives than maybe your own. The latest episode was particularly in line with a whole new way I was looking at the world, it felt “the universe is speaking to me”. Thank you for sharing this show with the world, it makes a difference in my life and I’m sure many others.

McCook ,

I treasure this podcast...

I listen to Poetry Unbound every day. It is hauntingly beautiful, it makes you think more deeply about life. I have learnt so much about poetry and poets - it stills my mind and gives me the opportunity to think in a more open, creative way. Padraig O Tuama is pure gold. Thank you.

Deb5085 ,

What you missed the day you were absent from fourth grade

I discovered this pod via an episode of Conversations on the ABC in Australia- what a gift!

The first episode I listened to was ‘ What you missed the day you were absent from fourth grade’ do yourself a favour and listen to this❤️

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