Podcasts about Al Filreis

George Fragopoulos, Chloe Tsolakoglou, and Christos Kalli join Al Filreis in the Wexler Studio at Kelly Writers House to discuss two sections from Book One and Two of George Economou's Ameriki.

In this episode of Conceptually Speaking, I sit down with Dr. Al Filreis, the Kelly Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, faculty director of the Kelly Writers House, and the creator of ModPo—a free massive open online course about experimental poetry that has drawn some 435,000 students from 179 countries. Our conversation, anchored in his recent book The Classroom and the Crowd: Poetry and the Promise of Digital Community, explores how ModPo became a genuinely thriving pedagogical community in a landscape of ghost-town MOOCs, and what that achievement reveals about the relationship between open texts, open platforms, and democratic forms of teaching and learning.Key Concepts from the Episode:Openness as PedagogyThe reciprocal relationship between open texts, open forums, and open-ended interpretationWhy poems that resist settled meaning are better vehicles for democratic learning than poems with knowable answersHow communal interpretation can be deepened rather than diluted by scale when the pedagogical architecture supports itThe Affordances of PoetryThe idea that a poem is not fully a poem until it is received, read, and responded to in communityHow the individualist architecture of higher education — grades, degrees, career pipelines — works against the communitarian impulse that makes reading meaningfulWhy poetry's perceived marginality makes it an ideal site for reimagining what education can beAgainst Technological DeterminismRejecting both EdTech's promise that platforms will save education and the moral panic that says we need to unplug entirelyThe access question that gets erased by anti-digital backlash: for whom is unplugging even an option?What it means to insist on a utopian digital pedagogy without being naive about the platforms that host itThe conversation makes a compelling case that progressive digital pedagogy is not a contradiction in terms. At a moment when both the EdTech industry and its loudest critics seem to foreclose the possibility of deep, humanistic learning online, Al's work with ModPo stands as a living counterexample. His conviction that poetry only matters when people read it together, and that digital platforms can be sites for that togetherness, left me feeling genuinely inspired about what teaching with and through technology can still look like.Check out more of Al's work here: The Classroom and the Crowd ModPo PennSound Kelly Writers HouseSupport the show

Pattie McCarthy, Sophia DuRose, and Elizabeth Willis join Al Filreis in the Wexler Studio at Kelly Writers House to discuss Willis's "To Be Longing" and "Motion Pictures" from Liontaming in America.

Claire Marie Stancek, Sarah Riggs, and Laynie Browne join Al Filreis in the Wexler Studio at Kelly Writers House to discuss Etel Adnan's "Return from London."

Think poetry is, kinda, welll....?  Try telling that to the over 97 thousand people who have signed up all over the world for Al Filreis' online Modern Poetry course, MoPod!  And if you listen to the end of the podcast, there's a special discount to help you join in on the fun!

Sarah Riggs, Laynie Browne, and Lee Ann Brown join Al Filreis at the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation in New York City for a discussion of two poems by Stacy Doris: "Menage a trois" and "Month of Valentines."

It ain't Tik Tok, but it ain't bad!  Join us this Musical InnerTuesday as Al Filreis talks about how he made poetry cool by taking it online!

Ernest Hilbet, Guy D'Annolfo, and Larry Robin join Al Filreis in the Writers House's Wexler Studio for a discussion of three poems by Thomas Devaney from Getting to Philadelphia (Hanging Loose Press, 2019): "The Blue Stoop," "Oregon Avenue," and "A Week in the Childhood of W.C. Fields."

Charles Bernstein, Ariel Resnikoff, and Nicole Peyrafitte join Al Filreis for a special live taping in the Writers House's Arts Cafe to discuss two poems by recently departed poets Pierre Joris ("The word, the mawqif") and Jerome Rothenberg ("A letter to Paul Celan, in memory").

SUMMARYIn this first episode of Season 6, producer Andrew Whiteman invites listeners to step into an arena of collaboration between poetry and sound. We all know it when we hear it, and we have mixed feelings about it. Why does the archaic meeting place of music and poem hit such a nerve? Is this art form literature or is it music? Surely, it's not song, is it? And if poems already carry their prosodic intentions within themselves – why bother supplementing them with extraneous audio?" These questions are answered by Siren Recordings, a new digital-DIY sonic poetry label run by Kelly Baron and Andrew Whiteman.*SHOW NOTESAudio played in the episode“Happy Birthday Ed Sanders Thank You!”, written and performed by Edward Sanders ( from "This is the Age of Investigation Poetry and Every Citizen Must Investigate” part of the “Totally Corrupt Dial-a-Poem Series by John Giorno. Found at https://www.ubu.com/sound/gps.html ) and Andrew Whiteman. Unreleased track. Audio clips of Amiri Barak, Helen Adam, and the Four Horseman from Ron Mann's 1980 film Poetry in Motion. found at https://vimeo.com/14191903.“The Great Reigns” written and performed by Erica Hunt ( from Close Listening with Charles Bernstein at WPS1 Clocktower Studio, New York, June 20, 2005, available at https://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Hunt.php ), and Andrew Whiteman. “#7” by Alice Notley and AroarA. Unreleased track. Text taken from Notley's book “In The Pines”, Penguin Books. 2007.“ Pinbot” and “Abu Surveillance” by Anne Waldman and Andrew Whiteman. Unreleased track. Text taken from Waldman's book “Iovis: the Trilogy”, Coffeehouse Press. 2011.“How I wrote Certain of my Books” by David UU and the Avalettes.  from the casette Very Sound (Sound Poems By David UU). Underwhich Audiographic Series, No.18. 1984.  "whn i first came to vancouvr” by bill bissett. from the cassette Sonic Horses. Underwhich Audiographic Series, No.19.1984. "From The Life & Work Of Chapter 7 (For Steven Smith)” by Tekst. from the cassette "Unexpected Passage”.Underwhich Audiographic Series – No. 15. 1982. “ Canto One” by Andrew Whiteman featuring Robert Duncan, Ezra Pound, Richard Sieberth, Al Filreis. buried somewhere at Penn Sound. https://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/. Unreleased track.*PRODUCER BIOAndrew Whiteman is a founding member of the indie-rock collective Broken Social Scene, and a PhD student at Concordia University investigating the confluence of mythology and experimental poetics. He is a musician, producer and sound artist with special interest in Sonic Poetics, and has collaborated on recordings with Alice Notley (In The Pines, 2013) and Anne Waldman (IOVIS, 2023) among others. This work has led directly to the creation of Siren Recordings, a boutique sonic poetry label, hub and ever-growing archive he runs with Kelly Baron and Brandon Hocura.  His divinatory practice is located at https://intarotgate.com.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Robert von Hallberg, Charles Altieri, and Marjorie Perloff.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Brooke O'Harra, Michelle Taransky, and Chris Funkhouser.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Chantine Akiyama Poh, Henry Steinberg, and Murat Nemet-Nejat.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Bethany Swann, Jonathan Dick, and Kate Colby.

She called herself Vincent, she smoked cigarettes, and she wore shimmery golden evening gowns when she read her poetry to sold-out crowds. Edna St. Vincent Millay was the emblem of the "New Woman" and one of the most important American poets of the twentieth century...but in years after her death, her literary reputation suffered, and only recently have critics and historians revisited and properly celebrated her work. In this episode, we focus on a sonnet that showcases the ways in which Millay approached desire and eros in her poetry. To learn more about Edna St. Vincent Millay and her life and times, take a look Burning Candles: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay, an informative documentary available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9ItdEiBR-o&t=2901s Here is the poem: She had forgotten how the August night Was level as a lake beneath the moon, In which she swam a little, losing sight Of shore; and how the boy, who was at noon Simple enough, not different from the rest, Wore now a pleasant mystery as he went, Which seemed to her an honest enough test Whether she loved him, and she was content. So loud, so loud the million crickets' choir. . . So sweet the night, so long-drawn-out and late. . . And if the man were not her spirit's mate, Why was her body sluggish with desire? Stark on the open field the moonlight fell, But the oak tree's shadow was deep and black and secret as a well. We so admire the podcast Poem Talk. In this episode, Al Filreis, Elisa New, Jane Malcolm, and Sophia DuRose offer a close reading of two more poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/podcasts/155947/biologically-speaking-a-discussion-of-love-is-not-all-and-i-shall-forget-you-presently-by-edna-st-vincent-millay photo by Carl Van Vechten

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Lisa Fishman, Gabriel Ojeda-Sagué, and Laynie Browne.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Jerome Rothenberg, Pierre Joris, and Charles Bernstein.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Ahmad Almallah, Huda Fakhreddine, and Kevin Platt.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Julia Bloch, Charles Bernstein, and Eric Falci.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Carlos Decena, Dagmawi Woubshet, and Abdulhamit Arvas.

Shock: I was (and am) a teacher's pet. Show notes Recorded on the 10-year anniversary of ModPo, which is taught by Al Filreis & his team.Delmore SchwartzKenneth Koch: ‘I Like Writing' by Bill ZavatskyA Momentary Longing to Hear Sad Advice from One Long Dead by Kenneth KochPogoAlso if you want to watch over two hours … Continue reading "Ep 194. Learning to read"

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Joan Retallack, erica kaufman, and Laynie Browne.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Caroline Bergvall, Henry Steinberg, and Bethany Swann.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Timothy Yu, Josephine Nock-Hee Park, and Piyali Bhattacharya.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Maxe Crandall, Larissa Lai, and Julia Bloch.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Matvei Yankelevich, Ahmad Almallah, and Kevin Platt.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Lee Ann Brown, Kristen Gallagher, Laynie Browne.

Al Filreis convenes Charles Bernstein, Anthony Elms, and Laynie Browne to talk about two poems by George Quasha. The book, published by Spuyten Duyvil in 2020, titled Not Even Rabbits Go Down This Hole, consists of eight gatherings of preverbs; our two poems, coming from the final section — which bears the name of the book — are “self fast” (numbered 12) and “that music razors through” (numbered 13). The recordings we use in this episode can be found on PennSound's extensive Quasha author page. These preverbs were recorded by Chris Funkhouser on December 27, 2017.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Charles Bernstein, Laynie Browne, and Anthony Elms.

Today we are releasing episode #168 of PoemTalk, in which Amber Rose Johnson, Daniel Bergmann, and Yolanda Wisher meet up at the Kelly Writers House to talk with Al Filreis about Jayne Cortez's "She Got He Got". This poem/performance piece is comprised of a “She” half and an “He” half, she giving variations of hot, while he instantiates variations of cold.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Yolanda Wisher, Amber Rose Johnson, and Daniel Bergmann.

Today we are releasing episode #167 of PoemTalk, in which Jack Giesking, Jonathan Dick, and erica kaufman meet up at the Kelly Writers House to talk with Al Filreis about Myung Mi Kim's "And Sing We" from Under Flag.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Jack Giesking, Jonathan Dick, and erica kaufman.

Today's episode dives into Cecilia Vicuña's 'Colliding and not colliding at the same time'. The performance begins as the audience, having been encouraged to ask questions about an art video that had just been screened, went momentarily silent. No questions were being asked, so Vicuña began improvisationally to fill the room with words and sounds, exploring a convergence or collision of topics: the then-recent election of Donald Trump, the “millionaires' coup” in Brazil, the “mystery of what is happening at this moment in the earth,” the collective thought of the people in the room, and the room itself. Edwin Torres, Huda Fakhreddine, and Jena Osman joined Al Filreis in the Arts Café at the Kelly Writers House to record this episode.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Jena Osman, Edwin Torres, and Huda Fakhreddine.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Pattie McCarthy, Kate Colby, and Lily Applebaum.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Anna Vitale, Sophia DuRose, and Knar Gavin.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Karis Shearer, Jane Robbins Mize, and Davy Knittle.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Lee Ann Brown, Pierre Joris, Charles Bernstein, and Rachel Levitsky.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Larissa Lai, Maxe Crandall, and Julia Bloch.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Jane Malcolm, Sophia DuRose, and Lisa New.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Derek Beaulieu, Tracie Morris, and Douglas Kearney.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Christopher Stackhouse, Maria Damon, and Devorah Major.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Gabriel Ojeda-Sagué, Trisha Low, and Eric Sneathen.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Gabriel Ojeda-Sagué, Trisha Low, and Eric Sneathen.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Jake Marmer, Bonny Finberg, Julien Poirier.

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Tonya Foster, Erica Hunt, and Bob Perelman.

For all my friends at home this weekend missing our planned gathering at the place we call our truest home, I give you:FROST VALLEY SOUNDSOn the seldom trafficked outskirts of Frost Valley just before the terrain becomes the gradual ascent towards Double Top, I found a small red boulder in Pigeon Brook dancing back and forth against a larger blue one. It made a lovely little noise. Then I walked to the dining hall and from there a campfire. We heard monsters in the dark. We sang back to them. This is audio photography from the 2015 reunion, a sonic companion for "FV: Finding The Way Back” by Al Filreis and Jody Ketcham.Build Strong,David (Vanamee-Hermes-Radio Dave) Scherer Water

Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Tyrone Williams, William J. Harris, Aldon Nielsen, and Erica Hunt. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.

Dana Stevens, Stephen Metcalf, and Julia Turner discuss the Breaking Bad movie El Camino, The Great British Baking Show, and the streaming wars and the future of television. In Slate Plus, the panel discuss the work of critic Harold Bloom who died this week with professor Al Filreis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.