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The U.S. Navy announces the decision to reopen a shaft involved in the Red Hill water crisis; U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze discusses his work with poetry and translation.
What if poetry is less about self-expression and more about survival?Poet and author Armin Tolentino joins host Mohammad Bader for a thoughtful conversation about writing, grief, migration, identity, folklore, and the search for home.Armin, a former Poet Laureate of Clark County, Washington, discusses his poetry collection We Meant to Bring It Home Alive, including the powerful images of dragons, astronauts, oceans, and bird storms. He explains how poetry can help us process difficult emotions, make sense of an uncontrollable world, and create connections between readers and writers.The conversation also explores Filipino folklore and Armin's children's book Myth Wakers: The Mananangal, the importance of preserving cultural stories, and his experience leading writing workshops with incarcerated youth.You'll hear Armin's advice for aspiring writers, including why you don't need to wait until you feel ready to call yourself a writer, how freewriting can unlock unexpected ideas, and why creative residencies can give artists the space to reconnect with their work.This episode is for poets, writers, teachers, readers, and anyone who believes stories can help us understand ourselves and one another.
I first got to know Paul Willis as a kind grandfather who occasionally attended my church. He and his wife Sharon lived up in central California, but when they were down here visiting their children and grandchildren, they'd sit right in the front pew, always with a warm, kind word for me after the service.Then I discovered over time that Paul had a list of credentials longer than my arm. As so many wise, brilliant, truly kind people do, he never led with this. He wanted to hear about me. About our church. About what I'd been reading.The loveliest people tend to make you feel like you are the most interesting thing in the room.But little by little, I learned that Paul was a professor emeritus in English at Westmont College. That he'd been a poet-in-residence through the national park system. That he'd served as the Poet Laureate for the city of Santa Barbara. And I started to pick up his books and poetry. Oh, what poetry.Paul has been formed by his time in the Cascades and the Sierras, national parks and national forests, and by a deep love and knowledge of literature. And an even deeper love for the Lord.Our conversation is a gift, and it's one I'm so excited to share with you today. Check out more of Paul's work at his website, and his most recent anthology of collected writings around Advent and Christmas here. Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with award-winning author Rod Carley about The Great Catsby by Hilton, published by Canadian publisher Smart House (September 1, 2026). The Great Catsby by Hilton (Smart House Books, 2026) is the unforgettable and wildly entertaining new YA book by Rod Carley and his cat, Hilton. Yes, you read that right! The Great Catsby by Hilton adds some much-needed whimsy to the world. In these uncertain times, we could all use a few more cats and a little more catnip in our nine lives.The copyright on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby expired on the first stroke of 2021 and the literary classic entered the public domain.Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby as an indictment of the reckless wealth of post-World War I America. The selfish and careless “fat cats” of The Great Catsby by Hilton similarly ring true.Part of the charm of the novella is that Hilton, a seven-year-old rescue tabby adopted by Rod, “writes” it. He is the first-person voice of Nick Cattaway who serves as narrator. Reimagining the story through the eyes of a domestic housecat has allowed Hilton to breathe mew life into the story. Hilton also writes the Preface. The Great Catsby by Hilton also features twenty full-page colour illustrations in addition to an assortment of black and white drawings by Quebec-based writer-illustrator Juliette Miron (who loves both cats and dogs).Hilton was abandoned as a kitten. All-Heart Pet Rescue in Powassan, ON, found him in a ditch and nursed him back to health. At the age of six months, he was adopted into a loving home filled with books, pillows and cat-sized windowsills. In addition to writing, Hilton enjoys chicken paté, bird watching, and long afternoon naps. The Great Catsby is his first Catification. Rod Carley is the award-winning author of RUFF (2024 national bestseller), GRIN REAPING (2022), KINMOUNT (2020), and A Matter of Will (2017). He's been long listed for the Leacock Medal for Humour three times and has twice received the Silver Medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards in addition to the Bronze Medal for Humour from Foreword Review INDIES. He was a Finalist for 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Humor, the 2021 Carter V. Cooper Short Fiction Prize, the 2023 ReLit Award for Best Short Fiction, and the Northern Lit Award for Fiction. His short stories and creative non-fiction have appeared in numerous Canadian literary magazines. He was the Toronto Reference Library's Spring 2025 Writer in Residence and is a co-founder and curator for the St. Lawrence Writers Festival. He learned to speak Tabby while minoring in Creative Writing at York University. Rod is a proud alumnus of the Humber School for Writers. www.rodcarley.ca Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Hollay was also featured on the cover of issue 10 of The Ampersand Review. Learn more about Hollay here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
City council approved a stipend raise and an option for giving laureates another year in the role.
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with award-winning author and journalist Ian Brown about his memoir, 70: A Diary of My Seventy-First Year (Penguin Random House, 2026). Ian Brown, award-winning author of The Boy in the Moon and the memoir Sixty, now recounts his daily reckoning with the milestone age of seventy. Fearlessly candid, often funny and relentlessly real, Brown asks the terrifying questions we all have about growing old, even when he doesn't want to know the answers. An acclaimed journalist and chronicler of contemporary life, seventy-year-old Ian Brown is not going gently into his eighth decade. The outlook is more perilous than it was at age sixty, but Brown is determined (however hopelessly) not to let time get the better of him. During the course of his seventy-first year, Brown writes incessantly, travelling on assignment for the Globe and Mail across the United States in the months leading to the shocking 2024 election; holidays with family and friends, always aware he might not see them again; skis and rows and exercises like a madman while turning a wary eye on the live-forever movement; takes up pickleball and talks books; and in general tries (and frequently fails) to show some human courage in the face of the march of his dwindling years. Along the way he encounters the lists that have suddenly become essential to daily life (what to take when leaving the house, what to pack for a trip, what to pick up at the drugstore); the indignities of medical tests and the shock of financing a retirement; the terrors and pleasures of growing older with one's spouse of four decades; the now-suspenseful drama of sex; the thrilling spectacle of watching adult children inhabit new roles of familial responsibility; and the shocking new lessons of life as an older person (accept compliments with grace, remember to smile, stand up straighter). As the percentage of the Canadian population over eighty-five will triple in the next twenty-five years, Brown contemplates his mortality and that of his contemporaries for readers of all ages. Growing old—anything after seventy—is a grave challenge, but also enormously liberating: if there is something you want to say or do, now is your chance to say it or do it. “I have to keep taking chances,” Brown reckons. “I don't want to give in too soon.” IAN BROWN is an author and a feature writer for the Globe and Mail whose work has won many National Magazine and National Newspaper Awards. His most recent book, Sixty: The Beginning of the End, or the End of the Beginning?, was shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Non-Fiction as well as a finalist for the RBC Taylor Prize. He is also the author of The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Search for His Disabled Son, which was a national bestseller and a New York Times and Globe and Mail Best Book, as well as a New York Times top ten book of the year; it also won the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and the Trillium Book Award. His previous books include Freewheeling, which won the National Business Book Award, and the provocative examination of modern masculinity, Man Overboard. He lives in Toronto. Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Hollay was also featured on the cover of issue 10 of The Ampersand Review. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Please enjoy this Summer Salon Series episode of Breaking Form Selects: Marie Howe. Support Breaking Form by reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts here.Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Notes:Marie Howe was born in Rochester, New York in October 1950 (she's a Libra!). She earned an MFA from Columbia University before publishing The Good Thief (1988, chosen by Margaret Atwood for the National Poetry Series); What the Living Do (Norton, 1997), a book that centers other brother John's death from AIDS-related illness; The Kingdom of Ordinary Time (2008); Magdalene (2017); and New and Selected Poems (2024), which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Howe has received fellowships from the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Academy of American Poets, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. She was the Poet Laureate of New York State from 2012 to 2014. She is the poet in residence at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Visit Marie Howe's website: http://www.mariehowe.com/Listen to her talk on Poetry Unbound here and watch her comprehensive interview with Krista Tippett here (90 minutes).You can see her give a reading in 2020 here (27 min); or read her poem "The Gate" from What the Living Do here (1.5 min); or read from her book Magdalene here (~23 min).Read this 1997 interview with Howe conducted by Victoria Redel.
In this episode, NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Kirby about their joyful and powerful new book, Fairy (Palimpsest Press, 2026). In Fairy, Kirby continues to mine their riches and fan the flames lit in their instant classic, Poetry is Queer. Their essays are an act of liberation they call “tending to each other's freedom,” and are written with signature Kirby directness and panache, from early AIDS-activist monologues, to launching a counter city-wide “safe-sex” campaign that includes the public depiction of an affectionate gay couple, to leaving the States in a love that made them “the most beautiful boy in the world,” to becoming a Canadian queer poetry icon. Like countless fairies before them, Kirby scouts desire paths beyond mere survival for new queer voices to continue to amaze, flourish, and thrive. Or as Fairy says, “This way >>>” Kirby is the author of She (KFB, 2025), Poetry is Queer (Palimpsest Press, 2021), This Is Where I Get Off (Permanent Sleep Press, 2019), featured columnist at Send My Love to Anyone and publisher at Knife | Fork | Book. kirbyfairy.ca Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Learn more about Hollay here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
In this episode, NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Kirby about their joyful and powerful new book, Fairy (Palimpsest Press, 2026). In Fairy, Kirby continues to mine their riches and fan the flames lit in their instant classic, Poetry is Queer. Their essays are an act of liberation they call “tending to each other's freedom,” and are written with signature Kirby directness and panache, from early AIDS-activist monologues, to launching a counter city-wide “safe-sex” campaign that includes the public depiction of an affectionate gay couple, to leaving the States in a love that made them “the most beautiful boy in the world,” to becoming a Canadian queer poetry icon. Like countless fairies before them, Kirby scouts desire paths beyond mere survival for new queer voices to continue to amaze, flourish, and thrive. Or as Fairy says, “This way >>>” Kirby is the author of She (KFB, 2025), Poetry is Queer (Palimpsest Press, 2021), This Is Where I Get Off (Permanent Sleep Press, 2019), featured columnist at Send My Love to Anyone and publisher at Knife | Fork | Book. kirbyfairy.ca Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Learn more about Hollay here.Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Kirby about their joyful and powerful new book, Fairy (Palimpsest Press, 2026). In Fairy, Kirby continues to mine their riches and fan the flames lit in their instant classic, Poetry is Queer. Their essays are an act of liberation they call “tending to each other's freedom,” and are written with signature Kirby directness and panache, from early AIDS-activist monologues, to launching a counter city-wide “safe-sex” campaign that includes the public depiction of an affectionate gay couple, to leaving the States in a love that made them “the most beautiful boy in the world,” to becoming a Canadian queer poetry icon. Like countless fairies before them, Kirby scouts desire paths beyond mere survival for new queer voices to continue to amaze, flourish, and thrive. Or as Fairy says, “This way >>>” Kirby is the author of She (KFB, 2025), Poetry is Queer (Palimpsest Press, 2021), This Is Where I Get Off (Permanent Sleep Press, 2019), featured columnist at Send My Love to Anyone and publisher at Knife | Fork | Book. kirbyfairy.ca Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Learn more about Hollay here.Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/lgbtq-studies Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Kirby about their joyful and powerful new book, Fairy (Palimpsest Press, 2026). In Fairy, Kirby continues to mine their riches and fan the flames lit in their instant classic, Poetry is Queer. Their essays are an act of liberation they call “tending to each other's freedom,” and are written with signature Kirby directness and panache, from early AIDS-activist monologues, to launching a counter city-wide “safe-sex” campaign that includes the public depiction of an affectionate gay couple, to leaving the States in a love that made them “the most beautiful boy in the world,” to becoming a Canadian queer poetry icon. Like countless fairies before them, Kirby scouts desire paths beyond mere survival for new queer voices to continue to amaze, flourish, and thrive. Or as Fairy says, “This way >>>” Kirby is the author of She (KFB, 2025), Poetry is Queer (Palimpsest Press, 2021), This Is Where I Get Off (Permanent Sleep Press, 2019), featured columnist at Send My Love to Anyone and publisher at Knife | Fork | Book. kirbyfairy.ca Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Learn more about Hollay here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/poetry
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Leah Kim about her powerful book, Mom, Unfiltered: Maternal Mental Health and Finding Freedom Through Motherhood (Bloomsbury, 2026). A deeply personal examination of the dire state of our maternal and postpartum care for mothers.For expecting and new parents, too often the care is so focused on a healthy baby that the mother's physical and mental needs are overlooked. Mothers face intense pressure to have the perfect birth plan, breastfeed with ease, and immediately bond with their baby. Unfortunately, these expectations can lead to anxiety, depression, and overwhelm. But it doesn't have to be that way. In Mom, Unfiltered: Maternal Mental Health and Finding Freedom Through Motherhood, Leah Kim explores her own pregnancy and early motherhood experience as a person of the global majority, the ways society fails new mothers, the mental health struggles of expecting and new mothers, the systemic neglect in care for mothers with marginalized identities, and how motherhood can be the inspiration for getting help and healing. Her story, enhanced with expert interviews, valuable resources, and the testimonies of other mothers, not only illuminates the impact of insufficient maternal care but also shows readers what can be done to improve care for mothers.Mom, Unfilteredis profoundly personal and brutally honest, yet it is ultimately deeply hopeful. It is about survival and growth, an invitation to move beyond our current social, cultural, and familial realities to support mothers in a meaningful way-physically, mentally, and spiritually. Leah 수진 Kim is a storyteller, author, consultant, podcaster, and community organizer. She is a recovering yoga teacher and spent 10 years as Nike's Global Yoga Ambassador. Her first book "Mom, Unfiltered" will be published in April 2026. About the host: Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Leah Kim about her powerful book, Mom, Unfiltered: Maternal Mental Health and Finding Freedom Through Motherhood (Bloomsbury, 2026). A deeply personal examination of the dire state of our maternal and postpartum care for mothers.For expecting and new parents, too often the care is so focused on a healthy baby that the mother's physical and mental needs are overlooked. Mothers face intense pressure to have the perfect birth plan, breastfeed with ease, and immediately bond with their baby. Unfortunately, these expectations can lead to anxiety, depression, and overwhelm. But it doesn't have to be that way. In Mom, Unfiltered: Maternal Mental Health and Finding Freedom Through Motherhood, Leah Kim explores her own pregnancy and early motherhood experience as a person of the global majority, the ways society fails new mothers, the mental health struggles of expecting and new mothers, the systemic neglect in care for mothers with marginalized identities, and how motherhood can be the inspiration for getting help and healing. Her story, enhanced with expert interviews, valuable resources, and the testimonies of other mothers, not only illuminates the impact of insufficient maternal care but also shows readers what can be done to improve care for mothers.Mom, Unfilteredis profoundly personal and brutally honest, yet it is ultimately deeply hopeful. It is about survival and growth, an invitation to move beyond our current social, cultural, and familial realities to support mothers in a meaningful way-physically, mentally, and spiritually. Leah 수진 Kim is a storyteller, author, consultant, podcaster, and community organizer. She is a recovering yoga teacher and spent 10 years as Nike's Global Yoga Ambassador. Her first book "Mom, Unfiltered" will be published in April 2026. About the host: Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com.Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Leah Kim about her powerful book, Mom, Unfiltered: Maternal Mental Health and Finding Freedom Through Motherhood (Bloomsbury, 2026). A deeply personal examination of the dire state of our maternal and postpartum care for mothers.For expecting and new parents, too often the care is so focused on a healthy baby that the mother's physical and mental needs are overlooked. Mothers face intense pressure to have the perfect birth plan, breastfeed with ease, and immediately bond with their baby. Unfortunately, these expectations can lead to anxiety, depression, and overwhelm. But it doesn't have to be that way. In Mom, Unfiltered: Maternal Mental Health and Finding Freedom Through Motherhood, Leah Kim explores her own pregnancy and early motherhood experience as a person of the global majority, the ways society fails new mothers, the mental health struggles of expecting and new mothers, the systemic neglect in care for mothers with marginalized identities, and how motherhood can be the inspiration for getting help and healing. Her story, enhanced with expert interviews, valuable resources, and the testimonies of other mothers, not only illuminates the impact of insufficient maternal care but also shows readers what can be done to improve care for mothers.Mom, Unfilteredis profoundly personal and brutally honest, yet it is ultimately deeply hopeful. It is about survival and growth, an invitation to move beyond our current social, cultural, and familial realities to support mothers in a meaningful way-physically, mentally, and spiritually. Leah 수진 Kim is a storyteller, author, consultant, podcaster, and community organizer. She is a recovering yoga teacher and spent 10 years as Nike's Global Yoga Ambassador. Her first book "Mom, Unfiltered" will be published in April 2026. About the host: Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com.Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/medicine Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Leah Kim about her powerful book, Mom, Unfiltered: Maternal Mental Health and Finding Freedom Through Motherhood (Bloomsbury, 2026). A deeply personal examination of the dire state of our maternal and postpartum care for mothers.For expecting and new parents, too often the care is so focused on a healthy baby that the mother's physical and mental needs are overlooked. Mothers face intense pressure to have the perfect birth plan, breastfeed with ease, and immediately bond with their baby. Unfortunately, these expectations can lead to anxiety, depression, and overwhelm. But it doesn't have to be that way. In Mom, Unfiltered: Maternal Mental Health and Finding Freedom Through Motherhood, Leah Kim explores her own pregnancy and early motherhood experience as a person of the global majority, the ways society fails new mothers, the mental health struggles of expecting and new mothers, the systemic neglect in care for mothers with marginalized identities, and how motherhood can be the inspiration for getting help and healing. Her story, enhanced with expert interviews, valuable resources, and the testimonies of other mothers, not only illuminates the impact of insufficient maternal care but also shows readers what can be done to improve care for mothers.Mom, Unfilteredis profoundly personal and brutally honest, yet it is ultimately deeply hopeful. It is about survival and growth, an invitation to move beyond our current social, cultural, and familial realities to support mothers in a meaningful way-physically, mentally, and spiritually. Leah 수진 Kim is a storyteller, author, consultant, podcaster, and community organizer. She is a recovering yoga teacher and spent 10 years as Nike's Global Yoga Ambassador. Her first book "Mom, Unfiltered" will be published in April 2026. About the host: Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com.Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Leah Kim about her powerful book, Mom, Unfiltered: Maternal Mental Health and Finding Freedom Through Motherhood (Bloomsbury, 2026). A deeply personal examination of the dire state of our maternal and postpartum care for mothers.For expecting and new parents, too often the care is so focused on a healthy baby that the mother's physical and mental needs are overlooked. Mothers face intense pressure to have the perfect birth plan, breastfeed with ease, and immediately bond with their baby. Unfortunately, these expectations can lead to anxiety, depression, and overwhelm. But it doesn't have to be that way. In Mom, Unfiltered: Maternal Mental Health and Finding Freedom Through Motherhood, Leah Kim explores her own pregnancy and early motherhood experience as a person of the global majority, the ways society fails new mothers, the mental health struggles of expecting and new mothers, the systemic neglect in care for mothers with marginalized identities, and how motherhood can be the inspiration for getting help and healing. Her story, enhanced with expert interviews, valuable resources, and the testimonies of other mothers, not only illuminates the impact of insufficient maternal care but also shows readers what can be done to improve care for mothers.Mom, Unfilteredis profoundly personal and brutally honest, yet it is ultimately deeply hopeful. It is about survival and growth, an invitation to move beyond our current social, cultural, and familial realities to support mothers in a meaningful way-physically, mentally, and spiritually. Leah 수진 Kim is a storyteller, author, consultant, podcaster, and community organizer. She is a recovering yoga teacher and spent 10 years as Nike's Global Yoga Ambassador. Her first book "Mom, Unfiltered" will be published in April 2026. About the host: Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com.Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Meet the new Ogden Poet Laureate, Sunni Wilkinson. OAA Show Ep. 92 - Ogden Poet Laureate Where Arts & Adventure summits the airwaves, this is the Ogden Arts & Adventure Show!! R. Brandon Long and Todd Oberndorfer are your hosts for the greatest arts & culture podcast in all the land. GUESTS: Sunni Wilkinson - Ogden Poet Laureate Hosts R. Brandon Long and Todd Oberdorfer welcome Sunni Wilkinson to the Ogden Arts and Adventure Show. This conversation highlights her perspective on poetry and the creative spirit of our local community. We discuss what this role means for the city and how local voices help shape our culture. It is a great look at the leadership driving our region forward. Subscribe for more interviews with community leaders and local creators. Never miss an episode of Ogden Arts & Adventure, SUBSCRIBE HERE: https://www.youtube.com/ @ogdenartsandadventure MORE OAA: https://www.facebook.com/ogdenoutdooradventure https://www.instagram.com/ogdenadventure/ https://www.thebanyancollective.com/ogden-outdoor-adventure-show Thank you to BANYAN1 for powering today's Episode of the Ogden Arts & Adventure Show! Listen and Subscribe to Ogden Arts & Adventure on YouTube! Look for us on Facebook, Instagram, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, thebanyancollective.com, and on the Podbean App for Android & iPhones. Find value in this podcast, consider supporting us here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/banyanmedia DM us on Instagram @ogdenadventure
Meet the new Ogden Poet Laureate, Sunni Wilkinson. OAA Show Ep. 92 - Ogden Poet Laureate Where Arts & Adventure summits the airwaves, this is the Ogden Arts & Adventure Show!! R. Brandon Long and Todd Oberndorfer are your hosts for the greatest arts & culture podcast in all the land. GUESTS: Sunni Wilkinson - Ogden Poet Laureate Hosts R. Brandon Long and Todd Oberdorfer welcome Sunni Wilkinson to the Ogden Arts and Adventure Show. This conversation highlights her perspective on poetry and the creative spirit of our local community. We discuss what this role means for the city and how local voices help shape our culture. It is a great look at the leadership driving our region forward. Subscribe for more interviews with community leaders and local creators. Never miss an episode of Ogden Arts & Adventure, SUBSCRIBE HERE: https://www.youtube.com/ @ogdenartsandadventure MORE OAA: https://www.facebook.com/ogdenoutdooradventure https://www.instagram.com/ogdenadventure/ https://www.thebanyancollective.com/ogden-outdoor-adventure-show Thank you to BANYAN1 for powering today's Episode of the Ogden Arts & Adventure Show! Listen and Subscribe to Ogden Arts & Adventure on YouTube! Look for us on Facebook, Instagram, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, thebanyancollective.com, and on the Podbean App for Android & iPhones. Find value in this podcast, consider supporting us here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/banyanmedia DM us on Instagram @ogdenadventure
Welcome Arthur, we are so pleased to have you join us to celebrate for our 50th Anniversary as our guest speaker at the Launch in Roanoke VirginiaArthur Sze is a poet, a translator, and an editor. He is the author of a dozen books of poetry, including Into the Hush (Copper Canyon Press, 2025); The Glass Constellation: New and Collected Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 2024); Sight Lines (Copper Canyon Press, 2019); Compass Rose (Copper Canyon Press, 2014); and The Ginkgo Light (Copper Canyon Press, 2009).Sze attended MIT before transferring to UC Berkeley, where he earned a BA in poetry in 1972. His poetry has been translated into 15 languages and published in leading journals such as The New Yorker, Harper's, The Paris Review, and major anthologies.Sze is professor emeritus at the Institute of American Indian Arts, former Santa Fe Poet Laureate, and, as of September 2025, the first Asian American U.S. Poet Laureate.
The magic of poetry is being celebrated today, on National Poetry Day. So we are delighted to spend some time with our guest tonight. Robert Sullivan is an acclaimed poet, author and educator, and he is also Aotearoa New Zealand's Poet Laureate. He joins Susana on the show for a chat.
Even if I'm not the one to see the end result of this — whatever that could look like — it's bigger than one person, said Lacroy Nixon.
[REBROADCAST FROM April 24, 2026] From 2019 to 2022, Joy Harjo served as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States, the first Native American to serve in that position. Now, Harjo has released a new album, Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace, which combines her passion for jazz and poetry. The album, out today, is Harjo's debut on the historic Smithsonian Folkways label. To celebrate National Poetry Month, Joy Harjo shares some of her music for an All Of It Listening Party. Photo by by Melissa Lukenbaugh Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, we journey into the profound world of art, storytelling, and connection with the remarkable Joy Harjo, the first Native American poet laureate of the United States. Through her insightful keynote from the 2025 Bioneers Conference, Harjo shares her experiences and wisdom on the importance of listening, creativity, and the interconnectedness of all beings. We also feature a discussion with Cara Romero, Program Director of the Bioneers Indigeneity Program and a Chemehuevi artist and photographer. Join us as we explore the power of art in healing and community, and discover how we can cultivate a deeper relationship with the world around us. Support the Podcast via PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio Resources/Articles: Joy Harjo keynote at the 2025 Bioneers Conference: https://youtu.be/syx6U3igUE4?si=up6aheCdvGGF5Yiu https://bioneers.org/art-and-healing-a-conversation-with-joy-harjo-and-cara-romero/ Once the World was Perfect by Joy Harjo: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/141846/once-the-world-was-perfect Joy Harjo [http://www.joyharjo.com/] the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate and member of the Muscogee Nation, is the author of ten books of poetry, several plays, children's books, two memoirs, and seven music albums. The author of eleven books of poetry, including the highly acclaimed, Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years, several plays, children's books, and non-fiction works, and two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior. Her many honors include Yale's 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry, National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ruth Lily Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Foundation, the Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Cloud Runner, Harjo's twelfth book of poetry, will be published by W.W. Norton in Fall of 2026. She is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, and is the inaugural Artist-in-Residence for the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she lives. Cara Romero (Chemehuevi), Program Director of the Bioneers Indigeneity Program, previously served her Mojave-based tribe in several capacities, including as: first Executive Director at the Chemehuevi Cultural Center, a member of the tribal council, and Chair of the Chemehuevi Education Board and Chemeuevi Headstart Policy Council. Cara is also a highly accomplished photographer/artist. Jack Eidt is an environmental journalist, urban theorist and designer, and advocate for the wild, as well as award-winning fiction writer. He is Co-Founder of SoCal 350 Climate Action and Executive Producer of EcoJustice Radio. He writes for a PBS SoCal Artbound project called High & Dry [https://www.pbssocal.org/people/high-dry]. He is also Founder and Publisher of WilderUtopia [https://wilderutopia.com], a website dedicated to the question of Earth sustainability, finding society-level solutions to environmental, community, economic, transportation and energy needs. He also publishes articles and podcasts on Substack [https://jackeidt.substack.com/]. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url Featured Guest: Joy Harjo, Cara Romero Executive Producer and Host: Jack Eidt Engineer: Blake Quake Beats Show music: Jack Eidt and Blake Quake Beats Episode 291 Photo credit: Joy Harjo/Matika
In this month's reading, Vermont Poet Laureate Bianca Stone explores Capitalism by Massachusetts-based poet Dara Barrois/Dixon
In this NBN episode, award-winning and celebrated author Farzana Doctor interviews Hollay Ghadery about her novel, The Unravelling of Ou (Palimpsest Press, 2026). Moving on is hard. Even harder when it's from a make-believe friend—someone, or in this instance, some thing—who's been your strongest source of support. On what should be one of the happiest days ever, the day her granddaughter is born, Minoo is faced with a terrible choice: make a clean break from her constant companion, a sock puppet named Ecology Paul, or lose her daughter and granddaughter, and maybe all of the people she loves. On an emotional drive home from the hospital, Ecology Paul shares the story of how Minoo got to this point, recalling Minoo's early teenage pregnancy in Iran, her exile to Canada, her questions about her sexuality, and how a ragtag sock puppet came to her when she desperately needed to be seen. Full of imagination, whimsy and heart, The Unravelling of Ou follows Minoo's struggles to justify the puppet's existence and untangle herself from her dependence on it, and reconnect with the people she loves. About Hollay Ghadery: Hollay Ghadery is an Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, (Guernica Editions 2021) won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. She is the author of Rebellion Box (Radiant Press, 2023) and Widow Fantasies (Gordon Hill Press, 2024). She is a host on The New Books Network and HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM, and the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. Learn more about Hollay here. The Unraveling of Ou, is her debut novel. About Farzana Doctor: Farzana Doctor is a writer, activist, and Registered Social Worker/Psychotherapist. Her ancestry is Indian, and she was born in Zambia while her family was based there for five years, before immigrating to Canada in 1971. Learn more here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day
This podcast is an excerpt of a longer episode also featuring an interview with Hollay Ghadery. Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in rural Ontario on Anishinaabe land. Fuse, her acclaimed memoir of mixed-race identity and mental illness, was published by Guernica Editions' MiroLand imprint in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Since then, she's produced a collection of poetry, Rebellion Box, a short-fiction collection, Widow Fantasies, and a poetry chapbook, the leaves of grass are dreaming. Her debut novel, The Unravelling of Ou, is being published this month by Windsor's Palimpsest Press.Hollay is a board member of the League of Canadian Poets, the co-chair of the League's BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of the region in which she lives. She's also a host on The New Books Network. and a host of HOWL—the literary arts show—on 89.5 CIUT FM.https://www.hollayghadery.ca/https://palimpsestpress.ca/books/the-unravelling-of-ou-hollay-ghadery/
We speak with former Racine Poet Laureate Debra Hall about how she fell in love with poetry, the daily routine she follows that helps her write every single day, and her newly published chapbook "What the Current Cannot Swallow." This collection of poems stems from a difficult period in her life when her husband was seriously stricken while the two of them were flying to Italy for vacation. The poems in this collection reflect on various aspects of their ordeal that eventually culminated in her husband's death. We also share information about the search for new poets laureate for Kenosha and Racine ... and about a fundraiser for the program that will be happening at The White Lilac in Kenosha on September 20th.
Bob Dylan turned 85 years old in May. His first album, 1962’s Bob Dylan, is in its 65th year on record store shelves. We’re at a point where, for most of us, there has simply never been a popular culture in which Dylan wasn’t a towering figure whose influence seems to touch, well, everything. This hour, a look at Bob Dylan at 85. GUESTS: Noah Baerman: A pianist, composer, and educator Fred Bals: Hosted the Dreamtime podcast, covering Theme Time Radio Hour with Your Host, Bob Dylan Sean Latham: Director of the Institute for Bob Dylan Studies, editor of The World of Bob Dylan, and the writer and narrator of It Ain’t Me You’re Looking For: Bob Dylan at 80 Gayle Wald: Professor of American studies at George Washington University; her most recent book is It’s Been Beautiful: Soul! and Black Power Television The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired May 20, 2021.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this engaging episode, George Halford sits down with Tennessee Tech professor and Putnam County Poet Laureate Aaron Hoover to discuss the power of poetry, storytelling, and the arts in shaping both individuals and communities. Hoover reflects on the life experiences that inspired her writing, from growing up near Three Mile Island to living in New York City during the September 11 attacks, and explains how those moments continue to influence her work. She also shares her vision for expanding poetry throughout the Upper Cumberland, supporting young writers, and helping strengthen Cookeville's growing arts community through Tennessee Tech, the Sawmill Poetry Series, and her role as Poet Laureate. Listen To The Local Matters Podcast Today! The UC Now · News Talk 94.1
This episode covers a new anthology from Wayne State University Press. Titled Black Summers: Growing Up in the Urban Outdoors, this vibrant collection invites readers to breathe deeply and return to that "carefree" season from an urban perspective. These emerging and award-winning creators of all ages recount the struggles and triumph of staking their claim to public spaces. Ranging from poetry to essay, creative nonfiction to comics, this collection blends nostalgia with struggle and resilience. DESIREE COOPERDesiree Cooper, the book's editor, was born in Japan as a military dependent and spent her adulthood in Detroit. She now lives in coastal Virginia where she is raising her grandchildren. She is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist, and among her accolades are a 2017 Midland Authors Award Winner in Adult Fiction, a 2017 Michigan Notable Book, a 2016 Midwest Book Award Finalist, and inclusion in the Poets and Writers 5 Over 50.NANDI COMER Our next author is Nandi Comer, an award-winning poet and essayist. She served as the 2nd Poet Laureate of the state of Michigan 2023-2025, during which time she spearheaded Michigan Words and the video series Michigan in Verse. She is the author of the chapbook American Family: A Syndrome. Her debut poetry collection, Tapping Out, won the 2020 Society of Midland Authors Award and the 2020 Julie Suk Award. Her poems and essays have appeared in American Poets, Callaloo, Crab Orchard Review, and others. She currently serves as the 2025-2026 Jay C. and Ruth Halls Poetry Fellow at the University of Wisconsin's Institute for Creative Writing and co-director of Detroit Lit. ROCHELLE WILSON-ELLISNext we have, Rochelle Wilson-Ellis. She is a U.S. Navy veteran whose journey has been shaped by service, resilience, and care for others. Having served aboard the USS Ross and USS George Washington, Rochelle has carried that same spirit of dedication into every chapter of her life. A loving mother of two and a certified baker and pastry chef, she has also spent years working in healthcare. In 2021, Rochelle was trained as a citizen journalist through the Sarah E. Ray Project, helping preserve the oral histories of those who attended Detroit's legendary Action House in the 1970s and '80s. LILLEN WALLEROur final reader is Detroit native Lillien Waller, a poet and essayist. Her poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best New Poets, and, in 2015, she received a Kresge Artist Fellowship in Poetry. In 2023, Lillien was awarded an Arts Writers Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Her essay “Listen Children, All Is Not Lost” appears in the anthology Black Summers: Growing Up in the Urban Outdoors. For more information on the book and the authors, please see the Wayne State University Press website.
Seattle poet Kathleen Flenniken grew up in Richland and worked as a civil engineer at Hanford in the 1980s. She served as Washington State Poet Laureate from 2012-2014. In her first year as poet laureate, she published a collection called Plume, which deals directly with how her Hanford area upbringing influenced her. The book explores the history of the site, the death of her best friend's father from a radiation illness, and her childhood in "Atomic City.” Flenniken sits down with us from the campus of Washington State University Tri-Cities.
Brian Bilston is one of the UK's most hilarious and best-loved poets and novelists. With over 500,000 followers on social media, Brian has been dubbed as the “Poet Laureate of Twitter”. He has published four collections of poetry for adults: You Took the Last Bus Home; Alexa, what is there to know about love?; Days Like These; and And So This is Christmas. His novel Diary of a Somebody was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. He has also published collections of poetry for younger readers: 50 Ways to Score a Goal; Let Sleeping Cats Lie; and A Poem for Every Question. His acclaimed poem ‘Refugees' has been made into an illustrated book for children.Brian Bilston is our guest in episode 593 of My Time Capsule and he chats to Michael Fenton Stevens about the five things he'd like to put in a time capsule; four he'd like to preserve and one he'd like to bury and never have to think about again .Buy tickets for Brian Bilston's Edinburgh Festival show, How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside, here - https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/brian-bilston-how-to-lay-an-egg-with-a-horse-inside .For everything Brian Bilston, visit - https://brianbilston.com .Follow Brian Bilston on Instagram: @brian_bilston .Visit our website! - https://mytimecapsulepodcast.com .Follow My Time Capsule on Instagram: @mytimecapsulepodcast & Twitter/X & Facebook: @MyTCpod .Follow Michael Fenton Stevens on Twitter/X: @fentonstevens & Instagram @mikefentonstevens .Produced and edited by John Fenton-Stevens for Cast Off Productions .Music by Pass The Peas Music .Artwork by matthewboxall.com .This podcast is proud to be associated with the charity Viva! Providing theatrical opportunities for hundreds of young people .To support this podcast and get all episodes ad-free, please sign up here - https://mytimecapsule.supercast.com. All money goes straight into the making of the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Well, we made it through July 4th weekend! The "Great American State Fair" continued to frustrate and disappoint the weird few who insisted on attending. Or trying to, anyway. Fake "pavilions" filled with half-assed "exhibits" that lots of states wanted nothing to do with. Even so, some were made to look like they were participating, even when they weren't. And the look was not good! All-in-all, we should just be glad they didn't burn anything down. Greg Dworkin was here to remind us that there was plenty of other stuff happening this weekend, anyway. Bribery, marching Nazis, FIFA corruption. You know, the usual. Speaking of those marching Nazis, know why it was so easy to get so many of them into DC on July 4th? Probably because they were already there. Interesting developments in the Michigan Senate race, where state senator Mallory McMorrow ended her campaign, leaving just two main Dem contenders in the race. Where will her voters go? Not easy to tell. They'll probably all turn socialist! But not for the reason you might think: i.e., that they're socialists now. They probably just want someone who'll kick a little ass. And there are a lot that need kicking. Meanwhile, the regular onslaught of corruption stories continued unabated. Along with a bunch of people Trump claimed were jailed for "fixing their cars," he also pardoned (by strange coincidence) yet another Perv-A-Lago fraudster, this time one maybe tied to a wee bit of murder. And just for a bit of semiquincentennial fun, what movies best capture America? Well, hold onto your Uncle Sam hats, because America's Poet Laureate might just be the creator of Beavis and Butt-Head.
Arthur Sze took an non-traditional path to becoming the U.S. Poet Laureate. Born in 1950 to Chinese immigrants, his family wanted him to pursue a safe career path that would assure security and prosperity. But while studying at MIT, he felt the call to write and study poetry; a call that changed the trajectory of his life. Sze spent his career translating traditional Chinese poetry. He also taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico and is now a professor emeritus of the institute. Sze is currently traveling the country with his signature Poet Laureate project “Words Bridging Worlds,” a series of workshops and readings that celebrate poetry in translation. He joins us for a conversation on poetry, the power of language and the art of translation. Where We Live is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The John Adams Institute is Amsterdam's home for independent American thought. John Adams himself said, "Let us tenderly and kindly cherish... the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write." For four decades, we have amassed a unique archive of great thinkers, speakers and writers, from Toni Morrison to Timothy Snyder, and from Jane Fonda to Jill Lepore. It has been our pleasure to share this treasure trove of thought and word with you. In this exclusive miniseries, we're sitting down with a few prominent voices from both sides of the Atlantic to take stock of the United States, two hundred and fifty years into its experiment in self-governance. Across these conversations, you'll hear from Ada Limón, former U.S. Poet Laureate, on art, identity, and the burden of speaking for a country; Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Emerita of the House, on the founding promise of American democracy and the gap between promise and practice; and Edward Luce of the Financial Times, on America as a creedal nation—the fragile idea holding it together at home, and what its fracturing means for its place in the world. We believe John Adams would have wanted it that way—in fact, he explained as much in a letter to his wife, Abigail, on 3 July 1776: "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival." And so, from Amsterdam, it's Bright Minds; Out of Many, One?—the podcast from the John Adams Institute. If you're a friend of free thinking and the communities that support it, please become a member. Our independence is something we cherish, and it comes with a cost. The John Adams Institute is an independent foundation without structural subsidy, and there's always room at our table for more. Click here to find out about sponsorship or becoming a member.Support the show
Minneapolis' first Poet Laureate, Heid Erdrich joins us to discuss her poetry and how it relates to waterways. She talks to us about why water inspires her, how her Ojibwe culture influences her work, and her work with other artists in the area.
In 2006 poet Amanda Johnston went in search of community and, when she didn't find what she was looking for, Amanda built her own. Today, Torch Literary Arts is a resource and a destination for Black women writers and readers across the diaspora. Fueled by wisdom and writings from poets, novelists, and screenwriters, the organization's exceptional programming and award-winning magazine amplify Black women's voices, and has featured work from poets like Patricia Smith, Yona Harvey, and Toi Derricotte, screenwriters and playwrights like Jonterri Gadson, Charla Lauriston, and Lisa B. Thompson, and novelists like Tayari Jones, Crystal Wilkinson, and Sapphire. And at a time when Amanda is preparing for Torch's 20th Anniversary celebration, “A Gathering of Flames,” she is also celebrating the publication of a new book in her capacity as the 61st Texas Poet Laureate, Praisesong for the People: Poems from the Heart and Soul of Texas (Host Publications, 2025), showcasing original praise poems commissioned from poets across the state, and seeking to uplift diverse and intersecting populations across age, gender, and BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, differently-abled, and immigrant communities. You can find Amanda at her website, on Instagram, and on Threads. And check out Torch Literary Arts, Torch Magazine, and follow the organization on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. Want to hear more from Amanda about the journey to Torch's 20th Anniversary? Check out our continued conversation on Substack. Subscribe, like, follow, and rate Additions to the Archive with Sullivan Summer on Instagram, Substack, and wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
In 2006 poet Amanda Johnston went in search of community and, when she didn't find what she was looking for, Amanda built her own. Today, Torch Literary Arts is a resource and a destination for Black women writers and readers across the diaspora. Fueled by wisdom and writings from poets, novelists, and screenwriters, the organization's exceptional programming and award-winning magazine amplify Black women's voices, and has featured work from poets like Patricia Smith, Yona Harvey, and Toi Derricotte, screenwriters and playwrights like Jonterri Gadson, Charla Lauriston, and Lisa B. Thompson, and novelists like Tayari Jones, Crystal Wilkinson, and Sapphire. And at a time when Amanda is preparing for Torch's 20th Anniversary celebration, “A Gathering of Flames,” she is also celebrating the publication of a new book in her capacity as the 61st Texas Poet Laureate, Praisesong for the People: Poems from the Heart and Soul of Texas (Host Publications, 2025), showcasing original praise poems commissioned from poets across the state, and seeking to uplift diverse and intersecting populations across age, gender, and BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, differently-abled, and immigrant communities. You can find Amanda at her website, on Instagram, and on Threads. And check out Torch Literary Arts, Torch Magazine, and follow the organization on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. Want to hear more from Amanda about the journey to Torch's 20th Anniversary? Check out our continued conversation on Substack. Subscribe, like, follow, and rate Additions to the Archive with Sullivan Summer on Instagram, Substack, and wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
In 2006 poet Amanda Johnston went in search of community and, when she didn't find what she was looking for, Amanda built her own. Today, Torch Literary Arts is a resource and a destination for Black women writers and readers across the diaspora. Fueled by wisdom and writings from poets, novelists, and screenwriters, the organization's exceptional programming and award-winning magazine amplify Black women's voices, and has featured work from poets like Patricia Smith, Yona Harvey, and Toi Derricotte, screenwriters and playwrights like Jonterri Gadson, Charla Lauriston, and Lisa B. Thompson, and novelists like Tayari Jones, Crystal Wilkinson, and Sapphire. And at a time when Amanda is preparing for Torch's 20th Anniversary celebration, “A Gathering of Flames,” she is also celebrating the publication of a new book in her capacity as the 61st Texas Poet Laureate, Praisesong for the People: Poems from the Heart and Soul of Texas (Host Publications, 2025), showcasing original praise poems commissioned from poets across the state, and seeking to uplift diverse and intersecting populations across age, gender, and BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, differently-abled, and immigrant communities. You can find Amanda at her website, on Instagram, and on Threads. And check out Torch Literary Arts, Torch Magazine, and follow the organization on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. Want to hear more from Amanda about the journey to Torch's 20th Anniversary? Check out our continued conversation on Substack. Subscribe, like, follow, and rate Additions to the Archive with Sullivan Summer on Instagram, Substack, and wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/poetry
Followed by spoken-word poetry from Dreaming Bear, Ram Dass and Uma Reed explore how the union of Bhakti and Vedanta leads to unchanging bliss and eternal awareness.Recorded in 2008 at Studio Maui, this mini-series features Ram Dass and guests from his satsang. Check out the first two episodes of this mini-series on episodes 245 and 255 of the Be Here Now Network's Guest Podcast.Help us celebrate 10 years of Be Here Now Network and support the next chapter of Ram Dass Here and Now. Gifts are matched dollar for dollar through June 30. Learn more and give here: BHNN 10th Birthday FundraiserToday's podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.In this episode, Uma Reed and Ram Dass share insights on:Weaving together the paths of Bhakti and Vedanta Connecting to our blissful nature and a joy that is unchangingRam Dass's mushroom trip at Tim Leary's house: seeing the roles vs. the soulStripping everything away until you are pure awareness and loveSpoken word with Dreaming BearLoving all of each other the way we love our belovedGiving yourself permission to become wild and undomesticatedAbout Uma Reed:Uma was first exposed to Hindu devotional chanting in the early 1970s, while studying meditation and spiritual practices with Ram Dass and various other teachers. Kirtan was a practice that touched her deeply, and as a devotee of Neem Karoli Baba, she often participated in kirtan gatherings with fellow devotees, as well as in other ashrams and spiritual communities. For years she held kirtan in her home, and for the past dozen years or so, she has led kirtan formally in yoga studios, spiritual centers, and retreat settings. She has taught workshops and led kirtan on numerous retreats and in satsang with Ram Dass and other spiritual teachers in the U.S. and abroad.About Dreaming Bear: Dreaming Bear is a master word-smith delivering his fervent message with extraordinary verbal dexterity and relevance. He's a nomadic bard, a hip mystic and modern-language Sufic style philosopher-poet. If you'd like to experience a living combination of Spaulding Gray, Rumi, Jack Kerouac, Robin Williams, Shel Silverstein, Michael Talbot and Thich Nhat Hanh, you owe it to yourself to see Dreaming Bear. The foundation for Dreaming Bear's work as a transformational epic orator and poetic storyteller is deeply attuned to the natural world. His work as a university teacher/researcher was further defined by years spent living 'off the grid'. While in a deep communion with what the Hawaiians call the a'ina, or life force of the land, he began to take his artistry to a new level and developed many of the works that have proven to be inspiring to so many. Find out more about Nature's Poet Laureate by reading a book of his poetry. “You will always exist. Isn't that reassuring? You always exist.” –Ram DassSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We're bringing back favorite episodes over the summer as encore editions. Since this episode first aired, poet Jen Siraganian won the 2026 Perugia Press Prize for her debut collection "Everything Has Been Moved, Even the Dead," which is forthcoming in September 2026. Congratulations, Jen! Slushies, we invoke the retelling of a ghostly experience shared by Kathy and Marion at the Hotel Figueroa in California earlier this year partway into this episode. Two poems by Jen Siraganian are at the heart of our discussion, and it's the first of these that puts ghosts into our heads. This poem also causes us to consider at some length the physical form chosen by or for a poem, and how this can utterly enhance the experience of the poem when it's just right. It's also an opportunity for Jason to raise the spectre of the virgule (or slash) once again, and we even pause briefly to recall when WYSIWYG was a useful acronym. We end the episode with an ekphrastic that prompts an on-the-spot tie breaker (thanks to our sound engineer Lillie for saving the day!). https://whitney.org/collection/works/2171 https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/gorky-the-artist-and-his-mother.html At the table: Kathleen Volk Miller, Marion Wrenn, Lisa Zerkle, Jason Schneiderman, Dagne Forrest, Jodi Gahn, Derek Grebis (sound engineer) Jen Siraganian is an Armenian-American writer, educator, and former Poet Laureate of Los Gatos, California. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in AGNI, Barrow Street, Best New Poets, Cortland Review, Poetry Daily, Prairie Schooner, The Rumpus, Smartish Pace, and other journals. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won the 2024 New Ohio Review Poetry Prize. A former managing director of Litquake: San Francisco's Literary Festival, she is a current Lucas Artist Fellow. jensiraganian.com Social media handles: Facebook @jen.siraganian, Instagram @jsiraganian, Bluesky @jsiraganian.bsky.social, Website Walking into St. James Cathedral as If We Were Already Ghosts My Father and I View Two Versions of Arshile Gorky's The Artist and his Mother Lip corners sink, an upturned bowl dripping its contents onto the white of her dress. Her eyes, Armenian saucers of round, outline hollows of darkness. Sharing color only, no overlap of limbs or space, shades of pink echo his coat, her lap, a paleness descends. My father nudges my elbow. He seldom mentions his mothers, the one who raised him, the other who gave him away. I want him to discuss the lack of daisies in the boy's hands, the mother's face swaddled in a cocoon of scarf. Instead, he stands, cloud-drifts across the gallery. We bench in front of The Liver is the Cock's Comb. He points to the ferns feuding with triangles, the thorned stems breathing blossom.
Former U.S. Poet Laureate and musician Joy Harjo (Mvskoke) immerses listeners in a diverse array of jazz styles and deeply emotional poetry in her new album, “Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace”. Co-produced by Grammy-winning artist Esperanza Spalding, the album features originals and covers, including a re-interpretation of Charles Mingus’s “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”. Harjo also transforms her 2015 poem, “I Pray for My Enemies”, into a feverish, free-form composition, while “Rabbit Is Up to Tricks” draws on the power of traditional oral storytelling and “Stomp All Night” delivers a fun and funk-filled jam. Acclaimed jazz vocalist Julia Keefe (Nez Perce) and the 16-piece ensemble of talented Native musicians known as the Indigenous Big Band make their album debut with “Incarnadine”. The album honors Native jazz pioneers like Mildred Bailey (Coeur d’Alene) and Jim Pepper (Kaw/Muscogee), as well as featuring innovative originals like “Wawasint8Da” and “Ddat Suite, MVT. 3 Iron Horse Gallup”. The ensemble continues to earn critical praise especially for their live performances, highlighted by their 2024 spring residency at the Kennedy Center. We’ll speak with both Joy Harjo and Julia Keefe about their new albums in this episode of Native Playlist, our regular feature on Indigenous music.
The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters connects Wisconsinites at the intersection of science, art, and culture. And their biggest event of the year is happening TOMORROW, May 21. They're bringing the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo, to speak at the Overture Center and our very own Bianca Martin will be moderating. Ahead of the big event, Bianca speaks with Tiffany Rodriguez-Lee, the Academy's director of arts and fellows, who explains the Academy's statewide mission, its “Finding Home” series, and why centering Indigenous perspectives is essential to understanding Wisconsin.
Ada Limón is likely best known for her role as the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. Her signature project, "You Are Here," focused on connecting poetry with the natural world, including installations in seven National Parks. She also wrote "In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa," which was engraved on NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft which launched in 2024 to explore Jupiter's icy moon. Ada is the author of seven collections of poetry, including Startlement, The Hurting Kind, which was a finalist for the Griffin Poetry Prize, The Carrying, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was a finalist of the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and Bright Dead Things, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, The National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. She is also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and a Guggenheim and was named a 2024 Time Woman of the Year. Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry, is the speech she delivered when she left her post as Poet Laureate last year. She joins Marrie Stone to talk about her work as Poet Laureate and how she used her platform to talk back against this political moment. She discusses her job as a creative and her job as an advocate and gives us a glimpse behind her process. She also reads and discusses her poem, “The Endlessness,” which appeared in The New Yorker in 2023. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It's stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you'll find an album's worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It's perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. (Recorded May 12, 2026) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)
A poet and a science writer walk into a podcast—and laugh, tease, joke, uplift, and ask each other tough questions about creative process. In this episode of Emerging Form, the hosts Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer and Christie Aschwanden ask each other some of the questions they like to ask their guests. It's a raucous, fun episode in which they rib each other as only best friends can do, taking turns being in the hot seat to talk about ambition, how getting older has affected creative practice, sincerity, empathy, curiosity and, of course, wine.Christie Aschwanden is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Good to Go, What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery. She's also host and producer of Uncertain, a podcast from Scientific American. She's the former lead science writer at FiveThirtyEight and was previously a health columnist for The Washington Post. Her work has appeared in dozens of publications, including New York Times, Wired, Smithsonian, Slate, Popular Science, Discover, Science and Nature, and she's received fellowships from the Santa Fe Institute, the Carter Center, and the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. She lives on a small farm in western Colorado.Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer is a poet, teacher, speaker, and writing facilitator. Her daily audio series, The Poetic Path, is on the Ritual app. Her poems have appeared on A Prairie Home Companion, PBS NewsHour, O Magazine, Washington Post Book Club, and Carnegie Hall Stage. Her recent collections are All the Honey and The Unfolding. In 2024, she became Poet Laureate for Evermore, helping others explore grief and love through poetry. Since 2006, she's written a poem a day, sharing them on her blog, A Hundred Falling Veils. Her one-word mantra is adjust. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe
Ada Limón's poems expertly combine brilliant observations of our complex world with a tender sincerity. As a two-term Poet Laureate of the United States, Limón focused on using poetry to connect us more strongly with the natural world. She is the author of seven books of poetry, including Startlement: New & Selected Poems; The Hurting Kind, The Carrying; and Bright Dead Things. Her newest book, Against Breaking, is an expanded version of her final talk as Poet Laureate - and a celebration of poetry's ability to heal and connect us. Her awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and a MacArthur Fellowship. Limón was raised in Sonoma, California. On April 14, 2026, Ada Limon came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco for an on-stage conversation with KQED host Alexis Madrigal, which was a co-presentation with Litquake.
This special edition of Live Wire celebrates National Poetry Month, with performances by renowned poets Hanif Abdurraqib, Anis Mojgani, and Kaveh Akbar. Plus, former Poet Laureate of Utah Paisley Rekdal chats about demystifying poetry; singer-songwriter Kasey Anderson performs a tune inspired by a poem from his friend Hanif; and host Luke Burbank and announcer Elena Passarello share some original haikus penned by our listeners.
Today on The Stacks, we're joined by the 24th Poet Laureate of the US, Ada Limón, to discuss her 11th book, Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry. Derived from her final lecture as poet laureate, this book explores poetry's profound ability to heal, inspire, connect, and remind us of our shared humanity. We talk about the things poetry can do that prose cannot, how to approach poems you don't like, and what came after her tenure as the poet laureate.The Stacks Book Club pick for April is Room Swept Home by Remica Bingham-Risher. We'll be discussing the book with Mahogany L. Browne on Wednesday, April 29.You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/4/15/ep-420-ada-limonConnect with Ada: Website | InstagramConnect with The Stacks: Instagram | Threads | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Substack | Youtube | SubscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Ada Limón is the author of Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry, available from Scribner. She served as the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. Ada Limón is the author of seven books of poetry, including Startlement: New & Selected Poems; The Hurting Kind, which was a finalist for the Griffin Prize; The Carrying, which won the National Books Critics Circle Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award; and Bright Dead Things, which was named a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Award. Limón is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and was named a 2024 Time Woman of the Year. She is the author of two picture books, In Praise of Mystery as well as And, Too, The Fox, and was the editor of the anthology You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Get How to Write a Novel, the debut audio course from DeepDive. 50+ hours of never-before-heard insight, inspiration, and instruction from dozens of today's most celebrated contemporary authors. Subscribe to Brad's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch Instagram TikTok Bluesky Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
These days I sometimes have to remind myself to keep breathing. I think this is true of human beings across all of our differences and divides. But in a room in New York City just before the turn of this year, I was regrounded by this fierce and joyous conversation with Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith. I invite you to settle into your soft breathing body with these two wise women as companions and with a sense of poetry as a technology, as Tracy describes in her new book: a technology for rising to our truest, highest selves, even amidst grief and mystery and danger, and bearing witness to each other as we do so. I think all of us in the room left a little more lighthearted and alive as this conversation unfolded. I hope that will be your experience too. Tracy K. Smith and Joy Harjo are former U.S. poet laureates, beloved On Being guests, and friends. They are each wildly and deservedly awarded and not just as poets — Tracy also as a teacher and professor at Harvard, Joy as a saxophonist and painter. We were brought together at Symphony Space in Manhattan to celebrate their newest books: Fear Less by Tracy and Girl Warrior by Joy. Find an excellent transcript of this show, edited by humans, on our show page. Sign yourself and others up for The Pause to be on our mailing list for all things On Being and to receive Krista's monthly Saturday newsletter, including a heads up on new episodes, special offerings, recommendations, and event invitations. Joy Harjo was the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States. Among many honors, she has received the Poetry Society of America's Frost Medal and a National Humanities Medal. She is the inaugural Artist-in-Residence for the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She lives on the Muscogee Nation Reservation in Oklahoma. Her new book of essays is Girl Warrior. Forthcoming in 2026 is her 12th book of poetry and a new album co-produced with esperanza spalding. Tracy K. Smith was the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States. She teaches at Harvard University, where she is Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, Professor of African and African American Studies, and Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Among her many honors, she has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and is a Chancellor of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her new memoir is Fear Less. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.