Poetry Unbound On Being Studios
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- Arts
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
Customer Reviews
Return
I am so happy you have returned!
Poetry unbound
If you like poetry of all kinds, you will love this. It is like a 15 minute meditation on a poem. The poem is beautifully interpreted and explored by Padraig and it is read twice- once at the beginning and once at the end. Very thought provoking. I bought the book and gave to ration myself to go slow! Can’t wait for the new series
Joy-filled listening
This podcast is an absolute joy to listen to. I love the format if steadying with the poem so you get an initial experience and can feel how the poem lands in your own body/heart/mind. Padraig’s insights and explorations of the poem are always a wonderful addition: sometimes deep, sometimes personal, sometimes completely transforming the meaning of the poem. Hearing the poem a second time at the end of the podcast always feels like a new experience. Familiar but much richer and more layered. This podcast has really grown my love of poetry and brings real joy and connection to my week. If you enjoy the podcast, I would highly recommend Padraig’s book of the same name 😊❤️🙏📖