The Poetry Magazine Podcast

Poetry Foundation

4.4 (28)
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UPDATED FORTNIGHTLY

The Poetry Magazine Podcast takes listeners on an audio journey into and beyond the pages of Poetry. Hear poets share the surprises, confusions, and desires that keep them writing. Produced by Rachel James.

5 DAYS AGO

Wake, Butterfly: Here Is What I Did with My Body with Maggie Nelson

Maggie Nelson invites listeners to productively disassociate. _____ Matsuo Bashō wrote: Wake, butterfly— it's late, we've miles to go together. Poetry magazine presents Wake, Butterfly, a series of intimate portraits that invite listeners to keep creating. The series is produced by Rachel James with sound design by Axel Kacoutié. _____ Here’s an edited version of Maggie Nelson’s prompt: Write on a piece of paper: “Here is what I did with my body one day:” and tell us an anecdote that the Roland Barthes passage “The Rib Chop” inspired in you from your own body and life. (You can read the text of the passage by expanding the transcript for the episode.) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

11 min
28 APR

Wake, Butterfly: Black Swallowtail with Nick Makoha

Nick Makoha invites listeners to build a cocoon, then break free. _____ Matsuo Bashō wrote: Wake, butterfly— it's late, we've miles to go together. Poetry magazine presents Wake, Butterfly, a series of intimate portraits that invite listeners to keep creating. The series is produced by Rachel James with sound design by Axel Kacoutié. _____ Here’s an edited version of Nick Makoha’s prompt: Part one: the cocoon of shelter. What is the cocoon you are entering? A place of tension? Of hiding? Of gestation? Or of potential? What are you protecting yourself from or preparing yourself for? Can you name the walls of this cocoon? What are they made of? Silk? Sound? Guilt? Waiting? Where do you feel most alive in that space? Part two: unfolding into the restlessness. Now comes the pressure, the restless, irreversible becoming: what begins to stir inside the cocoon. There will be chaos. Begin writing from that internal movement—this place just before the break. Let that force build in your body. Notice where it lives. Behind your ribs? In your hands? Just under the skin? What is the chaos? Let it press against the limits of the cocoon. Part three: speak back. Break out of the cocoon, become the butterfly. Ask yourself: what part of me wants to speak back? What voice have I silenced? Return to a version of yourself that you might have thought was lost. Let this be your poem. Part four: speak the piece aloud. Notice how your breath feels. If you're by yourself, read what you have written to yourself aloud. If you're in a community, share it with them, and do it as a chorus of voices. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

9 min
21 APR

Wake, Butterfly: You Are Living in a Poem with Naomi Shihab Nye

In the first episode of season 2, Naomi Shihab Nye invites readers to develop a ritual. _____ Matsuo Bashō wrote: Wake, butterfly— it's late, we've miles to go together. Poetry magazine presents Wake, Butterfly, a series of intimate portraits that invite listeners to keep creating. The series is produced by Rachel James with sound design by Axel Kacoutié. _____ Here’s an edited version of Naomi Shihab Nye’s prompt: First, write three “nuggets” of three lines each: For nugget 1, write three questions that you're carrying. For nugget 2, write three outstanding details observed or absorbed by the senses within the past twenty-four hours. For nugget 3, write three lines you've overheard, or three things that are causing you trouble, or three memories you're suddenly carrying, or three things about what's going on in the news, or three overheard quotes you’ve heard within the past day or two. Then go away from your page for a minute; read a poem or reread a letter from your old friend. Come back to your page and reread what you wrote this morning and pick out two or three things that you like best from what you wrote down. Try to write a poem that incorporates those things. _____ Credits: Naomi Shihab Nye’s poems “Come With Me” and “For Mohammed Zeid of Gaza, age 15” are from Everything Comes Next by Naomi Shihab Nye. Read by: Naomi Shihab Nye. Everything Comes Next: Collected and New Poems copyright (c) 1994, 1995,1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2018, 2019, 2020 by Naomi Shihab Nye. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. The excerpt of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s poem read in the episode is from Back Roads to Far Places (New Directions, 1971). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

17 min
21/07/2025

Wake, Butterfly: Meditation (Arrival) with Saretta Morgan & Bo Hwang

In the sixth and final episode of this season, Saretta Morgan and Bo Hwang invite listeners to create a guided meditation that allows for arrival. _____ Matsuo Bashō wrote: Wake, butterfly— it’s late, we've miles to go together. Poetry magazine presents Wake, Butterfly, a series of intimate portraits that invite listeners to keep creating. The series is produced by Rachel James with sound design by Axel Kacoutié. _____ Here’s an edited version of Morgan’s prompt: Write a guided meditation that’s inspired by two things: one, questions that rise for you in what you’ve been reading lately, and, two, your view of our political moment. Focus on the simplest version of questions that you feel are most critical right now. Determine what kind of language and what kind of containers for silence are necessary alongside your questions. Another way of putting it: what is the language for this moment and what does it need to arrive?

12 min
14/07/2025

Wake, Butterfly: Game with Amelia Bande

In the fifth episode, Amelia Bande invites listeners to play a game. _____ Matsuo Bashō wrote: Wake, butterfly— it’s late, we’ve miles to go together. Poetry magazine presents Wake, Butterfly, a series of intimate portraits that invite listeners to keep creating. The series is produced by Rachel James with sound design by Axel Kacoutié. _____ Here’s an edited version of Bande’s prompt: Think about a word. Any word. And then write a poetic definition of the word that does not include the word in it. And then you're going to use this poem as lyrics of a song. Once you have your song, you can sing it to someone else or to a group of people. And it's a riddle because then they have to try and guess what the word was. So, this is one: I wrote the definition. It’s in Spanish but I did a translation so I’m going to read the translation now: You smell it. You perceive it. It activates fugitive instincts of primary protection to fight, flight, freeze, or transform my fear in ways to charm you. What's the word? (Want to know what word is the answer to Bande’s riddle? It’s also the final word in the title of this poem.)

14 min
07/07/2025

Wake, Butterfly: Protest (& Antidote) with Pamela Sneed

In the fourth episode, Pamela Sneed invites listeners to create a protest poem and an antidote. _____ Matsuo Bashō wrote: Wake, butterfly— it’s late, we’ve miles to go together. Poetry magazine presents Wake, Butterfly, a series of intimate portraits that invite listeners to keep creating. The series is produced by Rachel James with sound design by Axel Kacoutié. _____ Here’s an edited version of Sneed’s prompt: Create a protest poem. It can be based on something that you’ve heard in the news or something that’s really been bothering you in the past few weeks, and you can tie it into a current event. For an added twist, add in an action at the end or something that you think people should or can do to remedy the situation.

13 min
30/06/2025

Wake, Butterfly: Plant with Mei-mei Berssenbrugge

In the third episode, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge invites listeners to observe a plant and receive its messages. _____ Matsuo Bashō wrote: Wake, butterfly— it’s late, we’ve miles to go together. Poetry magazine presents Wake, Butterfly, a series of intimate portraits that invite listeners to keep creating. The series is produced by Rachel James with sound design by Axel Kacoutié. _____ Here’s an edited version of Berssenbrugge’s prompt: Choose a plant and observe it with care for five minutes and intensity. Now, draw the plant with a pencil, shading from the center of the plant outward rather than outlining the plant. Now sit with the plant again, opening yourself to what the plant says to you. Now put the plant away, and for fifteen minutes write a visual description of your plant. There will be an interweave or seepage between perception, memory, and imagination. Now, as a stream of consciousness, quickly write down all the things that you receive from the plant. If you imagine your plant has said something to you, they did say that. The final part of the exercise is to compose an essay, a song, a piece of prose or poetry combining your written phenomenological description of the plant and your reception of messages from your plant. _____ The poem read in this episode is “Consciousness Self-Learns,” by Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, from A Treatise on Stars, copyright ©2020 by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge. Used by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.

14 min
23/06/2025

Wake, Butterfly: Beyond (So What) with Edward Salem

In the second episode, Edward Salem invites listeners to find what’s beyond “so what.” _____ Matsuo Bashō wrote: Wake, butterfly— it’s late, we’ve miles to go together. Poetry magazine presents Wake, Butterfly, a series of intimate portraits that invite listeners to keep creating. The series is produced by Rachel James with sound design by Axel Kacoutié. _____ Here’s an edited version of Salem’s prompt: Write a poem that responds to the question, “What is beyond so what?” You can replace “so what” with “eternity.” What is beyond the void? What is beyond the body? What is beyond your little human life? What is beyond the life cycle of the universe? _____ The poem Salem reads in the episode, “The Palestinian Chair,” is from his book Monk Fruit (Nightboat Books, 2025).

13 min

See All (125)

4.4

out of 5

28 Ratings

A simple but wonderful poetry podcast

27/02/2019

Mmbghdsa

It’s easy to become complacent when a podcast is a part of your regular listening diet, but The Poetry Magazine Podcast is consistently excellent. The hosts are as charming and erudite as you could hope to find, and discuss each weeks poem from a perspective of great experience, but without the least hint of the academic jargon or tired intellectual remove that can afflict conversations like this. I’m struck most in fact by their passion and lightness of touch. Most importantly though, it’s the consistently surprising poems they choose that keep me listening.
Excellent

05/08/2010

yearoflukethenadele

I look forward to this monthly podcast more than I look forward to my monthly paycheck. Great range of poetry, thought provoking interviews, crisp insights - what more do you want?
Dark Dreadful Secret

02/06/2008

MeterMailMan

My embarrasing confession is that for the first time in my life I am trying to write poetry! I know why but I don't know how! It was inaccessable to me from the poor introductions and presentations as a teenager. HOWEVER, this podcast has given me a lift and a start to my understanding in a private way that is supporting my growing understanding. Thank you so much.

The Poetry Magazine Podcast takes listeners on an audio journey into and beyond the pages of Poetry. Hear poets share the surprises, confusions, and desires that keep them writing. Produced by Rachel James.