The Poetry Magazine Podcast

Poetry Foundation

4.6 (156)
BOOKS
UPDATED BIWEEKLY

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.

JUL 21

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
JUL 14

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
JUL 7

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
JUN 30

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
JUN 23

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
JUN 16

Wake, Butterfly: Orb Weaver with Gabrielle Calvocoressi

In the first episode, Gabrielle Calvocoressi invites listeners to make a web. _____ 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 Calvocoressi’s prompt: Make a web. Use whatever form of web making comes naturally to your orb-weaving self. Could you make a web that connects one part of your room or the place where you are to another? This can be theoretical, spiritual, pragmatic; it can be tactile, it can be sonic, it can be visual, or just the deep web of memory. Could you make enough space for a ghost to come through? What’s your web? Get as intricate as you want. Weave and weave, and just let your mind make the form. Or you want to get physical? Find yourself a ball of string and whatever mobility means to you. This can be done in bed. This can be done alone or with others. Construct a web. You can stop right there. You don’t have to make a poem. Nobody has to make a poem. But if you want to keep going, you could make a poem that contains all the things that you caught in that web. Could you make a form called an orb weaver? What would that look like? What would your orb weaver look like?

13 min
10/24/2023

Kiki Petrosino and Cindy Juyoung Ok on Crestfallenness, Cookbooks, and More

This week, Cindy Juyoung Ok speaks with Kiki Petrosino, who has published five elegant and remarkable books, all with Sarabande, including the memoir Bright (2022) and the poetry collection White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia (2020). Petrosino speaks about crestfallenness and her new essay in the October issue of Poetry, “On Crestfallenness: A Pilgrim, Not a Tractor,” which appeared as part of the Hard Feelings series. She also talks about having her mother join her for her research, teaching across languages, and her love of cookbooks and the stories they tell. With thanks to Danelle Cadena Deulen for the clip of her reading Brigit Pegeen Kelly’s poem “Closing Time; Iskandariya” on the podcast Lit from the Basement. And to Sarabande Books, Inc. for permission to include Kiki Petrosino’s poem “Pergatorio” from Witch Wife (2020).

38 min
10/10/2023

Kimiko Hahn and Cindy Juyoung Ok on Mentoring Your Younger Poet-Self and More

This week, Cindy Juyoung Ok speaks with Kimiko Hahn, who won the 2023 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize from the Poetry Foundation, and who is featured in the October 2023 issue of Poetry. Hahn talks about how her work has changed over the years, including her current love of form, and how she’s been mentoring her younger self while putting together her forthcoming new and selected, The Ghost Forest (W.W. Norton). She also discusses being wrong about Elizabeth Bishop, not getting an MFA, and what it was like studying at the University of Iowa as an undergraduate while the graduate program was filled with now-canonical poets like Rita Dove, Jorie Graham, Tess Gallagher, and others. Hahn shares two of her incredible poems from the October issue with listeners.

56 min

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4.6

out of 5

156 Ratings

2023 rocks

01/26/2023

barb lowe

I love this podcast. I give the last two shows 10 stars each.
Esther Belin’s interviews have been a breath of fresh air and ancient winds! Fascinating poets!

09/18/2022

ghost sister

So happy to have them to listen to 2 and three times.
What We Need Now

03/26/2022

ddunleavy

We need words. Language shines a light on humanity. This podcast brings clarity to the world of the poet. In the uncertainty of our days, what we need now is having a place to reflect on words. Thanks.
Listen to Episode 300!!!

01/01/2021

athirkell

Episode 300 with Sonia Sanchez and Tongo Eisen-Martin blew me away. I was planning to listen for 20 minutes and then go get myself another cup of coffee, but I found myself unable to get up until I had experienced the whole conversation. It is a beautiful poetic expression of Black American life. Thank you!

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.