The Line Break Bob Sykora and Chris Corlew

Who's ready for some long poems? Oh, it's a good month on The Line Break. This month, Bob and Chris welcome Alina Pleskova, author of 'Toska,' for a talk about the crossover between the poetry and punk scenes, the massive debt we all owe translators, and writing poems in your mid-30s. Alina reads "Without" by Stephane Bouqet (translated by Lindsay Turner) as well as her own poem, "Vulnerability Engine." Plus, we gush about the city of Philadelphia.

Buy Toska here: https://store.deepvellum.org/products/toska
Follow Alina on Twitter/Bluesky: @nahhhlina / @alinapleskova
Follow us on Twitter/Bluesky: @linebreakpod / @thelinebreak

Climb aboard a clean, affordable public train and travel with Bob and Chris from the city to the shore. This week, it's all about short poems that take us places. Bob reads "Elegy For Soft Things" by Wendy Xu, Chris reads "If I Wanted A Boat" by Mary Oliver, and then the guys get wistful about—what else? The 1999 New York Knicks.

For the first time since before the show even started, Bob and Chris are recording in the same room! Bob came to Chicago to read "Dura" by Alina Pleskova, Chris's cat won't let him read "Up Nursing" by Hoa Nguyen in peace, and are the guys too old to follow sports?

Today, Bob and Chris are thrilled to welcome José Olivarez! Shockingly, this is not a Jimmy Butler podcast. Not entirely. Three discuss writing to procrastinate on writing, "nostalgia with rigor," and food and humor in poems. José reads "Family Portrait With Enchiladas and A Movie" by Analicia Sotelo and then his own poem, "Ode to Tortillas." Then, well, yeah, it becomes a Chicago Bulls podcast.

José Olivarez is the son of Mexican immigrants. His debut book of poems, Citizen Illegal, was a finalist for the PEN/ Jean Stein Award and a winner of the 2018 Chicago Review of Books Poetry Prize. It was named a top book of 2018 by The Adroit Journal, NPR, and the New York Public Library. Along with Felicia Chavez and Willie Perdomo, he co-edited the poetry anthology, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNEXT. He is the co-host of the poetry podcast, The Poetry Gods. In 2018, he was awarded the first annual Author and Artist in Justice Award from the Phillips Brooks House Association and named a Debut Poet of 2018 by Poets & Writers. In 2019, he was awarded a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Paris Review, and elsewhere.

https://joseolivarez.com/

On today's episode, Bob and Chris are thrilled welcome Maya Williams! The three discuss the upcoming release of Maya's book, 'Judas & Suicide,' forthcoming from Game Over Books in May 2023. Then, Maya reads "Bashert" by Jeremy Radin, eir own poem "The Devil is Concerned with More Pressing Matters Than My Mental Health Issues," and then the three use basketball as an excuse to gush about Ross Gay.

Maya Williams (ey/they/she) is a religious Black multiracial nonbinary suicide survivor who is currently the seventh poet laureate of Portland, Maine. May 2023 marks the release of their debut poetry collection, Judas & Suicide, via Game Over Books. October 2023 marks the release of their second poetry collection, Refused a Second Date, via Harbor Editions. They were one of three artists of color selected to represent Maine in The Kennedy Center's Arts Across America series in 2020 and were listed as one of The Advocate's Champions of Pride in 2022. She is currently an Ashley Bryan Fellow through the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. You can follow more of eir work at mayawilliamspoet.com

Does poetry require form? Does poetry require basis in observable reality? These are question we'd try to address if we were a more boring podcast. Instead, Bob reads "Sestina" by Elizabeth Bishop, Chris reads "The Wine-Dark Sea" by Mathias Svalina, and the dudes mostly talk about how rad it all is. Plus: is Hakeem Olajuwon a formalist or a surrealist?