Multi-Verse Poetry Podcast

In Episode 16 of Multi-Verse, poet Devon Walker-Figueroa reads “Private Lessons,” in which a dying man determines that his young pupil must become a prima ballerina, and chats with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham about the uses of silence, breaking Dante's rhyme scheme, and what it means to be haunted by lessons long since over. What use?” her dancer wonders, “in maligning his methods now?” This is not your grandfather's ghost story. “Private Lessons” can be found in Walker-Figueroa's collection Philomath (Milkweed Editions, 2021).  

In Episode 15 of Multi-Verse, poet Philip Metres reads “Fugitive” and talks with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham about memory, home-longing, and paying attention to the accordion of time. “Fugitive” can be found in Metres's latest collection, Fugitive/Refuge (Copper Canyon Press, 2024).

In Episode 14 of Multi-Verse, poet Barbara Tran reads “Loon Song” and chats with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham about the fever, living with uncertainty, and the wisdom of the beehive. “Loon Song” can be found in Tran's debut collection, Precedented Parroting (Palimpsest Press, 2024).

In Episode 13 of Multi-Verse, poet Eugene Ostashevsky reads five sonnets and talks with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham about mixing humor with horror and the stupidity of war. Eugene Ostashevsky's latest poetry collection is The Feeling Sonnets (New York Review Books, 2022).

In Episode 12 of Multi-Verse, poet Timothy Liu reads “Last Christmas” and chats with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham about the poem's themes of love, desire, and loneliness—and how much detail is enough to tell a story. “Last Christmas” can be found in Liu's collection “Down Low And Lowdown: Timothy Liu's Bedside Bottom-Feeder Blues” (Barrow Street Press, 2023).    

In Episode 11 of Multi-Verse, poet Monica Youn reads and discusses “Study of Two Figures (Agave / Pentheus).” In a conversation with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham, Youn explores representations of Asian identity in Greek myth and the immigrant family sitcom—"Euripides meets Margaret Cho." “Study of Two Figures (Agave / Pentheus)” can be found in Youn's collection “From From” (Graywolf, 2023), available here: www.graywolfpress.org/books/from-from

In Episode 10 of Multi-Verse, poet Niina Pollari reads and discusses “How to Read This Poem.” In a conversation with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham, Pollari talks about what it means to be honest in a poem about grief. “How to Read This Poem” can be found in Pollari's collection “Path of Totality” (Soft Skull, 2022), available here: softskull.com/books/path-of-totality/ Listen to more poetry: www.multiversepoetry.org Explore the Multi-Verse newsletter: eriddifordgraham.substack.com/

In Episode 9 of Multi-Verse, poet J. Mae Barizo reads and discusses her poem “Sunday Women on Malcolm X Boulevard.” In a conversation with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham, Barizo explores the rhythms of the body, wildfires near and far, and the intimate power of the couplet. “Sunday Women on Malcolm X Boulevard” is part of J. Mae Barizo's second poetry collection, Tender Machines, published in May 2023 with Tupelo Press. Get the book: www.tupelopress.org/product/tender-machines/ Listen to more poetry: www.multiversepoetry.org Explore the Multi-Verse newsletter: eriddifordgraham.substack.com/

In Episode 8 of Multi-Verse, poet India Lena González reads and discusses her poem “ACT ! pose with fingers as though cigarette (puff puff).” In a conversation with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham, González explores writing as choreography, the politics of casting, and the exhilaration and exhaustion of performance. “ACT ! pose with fingers as though cigarette (puff puff)” is part of India Lena González's debut manuscript, fox woman get out!, which publishes in September 2023 with BOA Editions. An early version of the poem can also be found in the Brooklyn Review: www.bkreview.org/poetry/act-pose-…a-lena-gonzalez/ Listen to more poetry: www.multiversepoetry.org Get the newsletter: eriddifordgraham.substack.com/podcast

In Episode 7 of Multi-Verse, poet William Archila reads and discusses his poem “Northern Triangle Dissected” with host Evangeline Graham, in a conversation about the migration stories of unaccompanied minors, the legacy of the Central American Crisis, and using metaphor to convey psychology. “Northern Triangle Dissected” is part of William Archila's new manuscript All Things Dark & Invisible. An early version of the poem can also be found in Poetry Magazine: www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi…le-dissected Listen to more poetry: www.multiversepoetry.org  

In Episode 6 of Multi-Verse, poet CM Burroughs reads her trio of “Dear Liver” poems and discusses themes of grief, agency, and questioning one's faith with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Read CM Burroughs's “Dear Liver” poems in her second collection, Master Suffering (Tupelo Press, 2021), here: www.tupelopress.org/product/master-suffering/ Listen to more poetry: www.multiversepoetry.org

In Episode 5 of Multi-Verse, poet Amanda Gunn reads her poem “What You Meant” and discusses its themes of love, grief, and memory—and the pleasurable possibilities of rhyme and iambic meter—with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Learn more about Amanda Gunn and her forthcoming debut collection, Things I Didn't Do with This Body (Copper Canyon Press, 2023): www.coppercanyonpress.org/authors/amanda-gunn/ Listen to more poetry: www.multiversepoetry.org

In Episode 4 of Multi-Verse, poet Gregory Kan reads and discusses poetry from his book Under Glass with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham. This conversation explores world-building, how to approach the experience of trauma in text, what humans have that artificial intelligence doesn't, and how much information is just enough. Gregory Kan's Under Glass (2019) is available from Auckland University Press: aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/under-glass/ Listen to more poetry at www.multiversepoetry.org

In Episode 3 of Multi-Verse, poet Mikko Harvey reads and discusses his poem “Let the World Have You” with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham, in a conversation that explores the inner desires of objects and how to let go of reality in writing about nature. Find the full text for “Let the World Have You” in Mikko Harvey's new book by the same name (Let the World Have You, House of Anansi Press, 2022), available here: houseofanansi.com/products/let-the-world-have-you Listen to more poetry at www.multiversepoetry.org

In Episode 2 of Multi-Verse, poet Wendy Xu reads her poem “A Sound Not Unlike a Bell,” and chats with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham about the poem's themes of family, migration, and revision as a practice of love. It's a special opportunity to hear a poem of this length performed in a single sitting—sit back and feast your ears. Find “A Sound Not Unlike a Bell” in Wendy Xu's new book, The Past (Wesleyan University Press, 2021), available here: https://www.weslpress.org/9780819580467/the-past/ Listen to more poetry at multiversepoetry.org

In Episode 1 of Multi-Verse, poet Erika Meitner reads and discusses her poem “Thumbs-Up for the Mothership” with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham, in a conversation touching on climate change, Miami, and Whitman vs Dickinson. Read the poem: https://www.vqronline.org/photography/2021/06/reimagining-magic-city