The New Yorker: Poetry

The New Yorker

4.4 (486)
BOOKS
UPDATED BIMONTHLY

Readings and conversation with The New Yorker's poetry editor, Kevin Young.

JUN 25

Megan Fernandes Reads Hala Alyan

Megan Fernandes joins Kevin Young to read “Half-Life in Exile,” by Hala Alyan, and her own poem “On Your Departure to California.” Fernandes’s books include “I Do Everything I’m Told” and “Good Boys.” Her poems have been published widely, and she’s received fellowships from the Yaddo Foundation, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Hawthornden Foundation. She’s currently an associate professor of English and the writer-in-residence at Lafayette College. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

31 min
MAY 21

Erika Meitner Reads Philip Levine

Erika Meitner joins Kevin Young to read “What Work Is,” by Philip Levine, and her own poem “To Gather Together.” Meitner’s books include “Useful Junk” and “Holy Moly Carry Me,” which won the 2018 National Jewish Book Award in Poetry. She is currently a Mandel Institute Cultural Leadership Program Fellow, and she’s the director of the M.F.A. program in creative writing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

36 min
APR 23

David St. John Reads Larry Levis

David St. John joins Kevin Young to read “Picking Grapes in an Abandoned Vineyard,” by Larry Levis, and his own poem “The Shore.” St. John is the author of many poetry collections and the recipient of honors including the Rome Fellowship and an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the O. B. Hardison Prize from the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the George Drury Smith Award from Beyond Baroque. He’s also the editor of “Swirl & Vortex,” a volume of collected poems by the late Larry Levis, forthcoming in 2026. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

42 min
MAR 26

Edward Hirsch Reads Gerald Stern

Edward Hirsch joins Kevin Young to read, “96 Vandam,” by Gerald Stern, and his own poem “Man on a Fire Escape.” Hirsch's honors include a MacArthur Fellowship, a National Book Critics Circle Award, the Pablo Neruda International Presidential Medal of Honor, and a National Jewish Book Award. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

31 min
FEB 26

Jericho Brown Reads Elizabeth Alexander

Jericho Brown joins Kevin Young to read, “When,” by Elizabeth Alexander, and his own poem, “Colosseum.” Jericho Brown, who received the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for his collection “The Tradition.” He’s a 2024 MacArthur Fellow and a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

36 min
JAN 29

Kevin Young and Deborah Garrison Discuss “A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker”

This year, The New Yorker turns one hundred years old, and, to celebrate the occasion, we’re publishing an anthology: “A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker, 1925-2025.” Deborah Garrison, a poet and an editor at Knopf, who worked closely with The New Yorker on this exciting project, joins Kevin Young to discuss the anthology. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

36 min
12/25/2024

Dobby Gibson Reads Diane Seuss

Dobby Gibson joins Kevin Young to read “I have slept in many places, for years on mattresses that entered,” by Diane Seuss, and his own poem “This Is a Test of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Wireless Warning System.” Gibson is the author of five poetry collections, including, most recently, “Hold Everything.” He’s also the recipient of fellowships from the Lannan Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

30 min
11/27/2024

Rae Armantrout Reads Dorothea Lasky

Rae Armantrout joins Kevin Young to read “Mother,” by Dorothea Lasky, and her own poem “Finally.” Armantrout’s many books include “Go Figure,” “Finalists,” “Conjure,” and “Wobble.” Her collection “Versed” won a National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

29 min

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Kevin Young

Host

4.4

out of 5

486 Ratings

Poetry and soul

09/17/2021

vanishingpoet

Quite a marked shift from the original poet to the present. Just as the New Yorker has shifted greatly so does the podcast. Both are knowledgeable and insightful but I hope the New Yorker stays true to art and poetry and not modern political divisions, pseudo activism and identity politics. Poetry tends to the soul not the ego.
Poetry as political statement

Mar 9

GrumpyCat01

I am incredibly distracted by the need of poets to be focused primarily on the blackness or the queerness of their “work”. They focus on their uniqueness which is not universal, but is often mediocre art.
Wonderful!

Feb 28

chocolatecityusa

Beautiful interview with Jericho Brown.
Favorite podcast

11/18/2023

MaxMarshal

Just re-listened to Kwame Dawes episode re the Walcott poem- such a lovely interlude- Kevin Young draws out the sublime and humane from the poets and it’s just a reward to listen to gorgeous poems and smart and sometimes joyful commentary