Poetry Off the Shelf - podcast cover

Poetry Off the Shelf

Poetry Foundationwww.poetryfoundation.org
Producer Helena de Groot talks to poets about language, dreams, love and loss, identity, connection, anger, discomfort, the creative process, the state of the world and the world of the soul. Hard conversations are welcomed—laughter is, too.

Episodes

Give Me a Sign

Alexandra Lytton Regalado on fate, snake mirrors, and the daily work of letting go.

Nov 01, 20221 hr 1 minEp. 493

As I Am

Ama Codjoe on normal naked bodies, solving problems, and her childfree life.

Oct 04, 202256 minEp. 492

The Land Is the Center

Noʻu Revilla on ancestral history in newspapers, ocean consciousness, and how to be a guest.

Sep 20, 202250 minEp. 491

Remember Every Ginseng Seed

Chelsea Harlan on knowledge, creaturehood, and the quest for her mother’s secret sadness.

Sep 06, 20221 hrEp. 490

Before We Return to Dust

André Naffis-Sahely on desert sand, rootlessness, and the long shadow of fascism.

Aug 23, 202249 minEp. 489

The Future Trembles

Elisa Gabbert on commitment, boredom, and the poem as theater.

Aug 09, 202248 minEp. 488

Trickster God

Saeed Jones on accuracy, being funny, and creating what we need.

Jul 26, 20221 hr 2 minEp. 487

The Healing Brush

Chantal Gibson on ancestors, laundry, and Frantz Fanon for beginners.

Jul 14, 202244 minEp. 486

Yelling Down the Phone

Nina Mingya Powles on muscle memory, Haka tutorials, and the shock of home.

Jun 28, 202252 minEp. 485

Telling the Truth

Niina Pollari on sunflowers, redemption, and the most depressing phone note in the world.

Jun 14, 202246 minEp. 484

Team Mystery

Victoria Chang on bonsai trees, witticisms, and the wisdom of not giving a crap.

May 31, 202241 minEp. 483

All There Is

Tom Sleigh about his romance with experience, fancy jackets, and one last visit to the dog beach.

May 17, 20221 hr 6 minEp. 482

The Neverending Quest

Sylvie Kandé and her translator Alexander Dickow on the courage of migrants, the limits of language, and an epic without a nation.

May 03, 20221 hr 4 minEp. 481

The Body You Control

Kim Moore on playing the trumpet, misogyny, and the men we love.

Apr 19, 202254 minEp. 480

Pushing the Ear

Tommye Blount on transformation, Kids Incorporate, and the joy of drowning in diction.

Apr 05, 202252 minEp. 479

Blossoms in Ukraine

Oksana Maksymchuk and Oksana Lutsyshyna on life as a refugee, the God of comfort, and the deep roots of the war.

Mar 22, 20221 hr 2 minEp. 478

Listen for My Name

Julie Enszer and Elena Gross on community care, the AIDS epidemic, and OutWrite, the conference that shaped queer literary history.

Mar 08, 202253 minEp. 477

Ghost Diplomat

Hoa Nguyen on photographs, her mother's past with the motorcycle circus, and the quiet ways to talk to ghosts.

Feb 22, 202245 minEp. 476

My Body, My Stones

Poet and playwright Malcolm Tariq on listening, field trips with his brother, and the perils of dating while Black.

Feb 08, 202253 minEp. 475

The Big Hollow

Kaveh Akbar on human wondering, fat squirrels, and the best spouse in the world.

Jan 25, 202256 minEp. 474

A Little Wrong

Bianca Stone on family trauma, wrinkled towels, and the case against self-improvement.

Jan 10, 202258 minEp. 473

Poets We Lost in 2021

Remembering the life, poetry, and activism of Janice Mirikitani, plus a few words on love by bell hooks.

Dec 21, 202131 minEp. 472

Bird in a Drawer

Keats Conley on smelly ducks, spiders, and the limits of the human perspective.

Dec 07, 202149 minEp. 471

How to Be a Family of One

Steven Espada Dawson on possibility, toothpaste, and the grief of cosmic aloneness.

Nov 23, 20211 hr 2 minEp. 470

Heart of a Reporter

Noor Hindi on home ownership, evictions court, and her father's grief.

Nov 09, 20211 hr 2 minEp. 469

A History with Holes

Clint Smith on being human, healing on a plantation, and the difference between Jefferson and Grant.

Oct 26, 202142 minEp. 468

My Drowning Home

Isabel Duarte-Gray on town gossip, folk remedies, and the music of Kentucky.

Oct 13, 202154 minEp. 467

When Time is Kind

Poet and priest Spencer Reece on his cousin's murder, the AIDS epidemic, and bearing witness to a moment.

Sep 28, 202149 minEp. 466

Technically Roommates

Chen Chen on nourishment, homophobia, and breaking free of the fear of failure.

Sep 14, 202159 minEp. 465

Leaving and Loving Afghanistan

Zohra Saed on cooking, culture, and the volunteer-led rescue operation to get Afghans to safety.

Aug 31, 202131 minEp. 464