Podcast appearances and mentions of robin coste lewis

Recorded by Robin Coste Lewis for Poem-a-Day, a series produced by the Academy of American Poets. Published on May 19, 2025. ⁠⁠⁠www.poets.org

Get in, gurl, we're reading poetry at your unfriendly neighborhood leather bar.Please Support Breaking Form!Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.NOTES:Learn more about Tom of Finland, the artist name of Finnish Touko Laaksonen who signed his erotic work "Tom." Follow messygayspod on Instagram, or @messygays.bsky.social on Blue Sky, or on FB at MessyGaysPodRead Heather McHugh's "The Amenities" (care warning: sexual assault)Read sam sax's "On PrEP or on Prayer [“when i say pre-exposure prophylaxis”]Read Elizabeth Bishop's "The Moose"Read Diane Wakoski's "Uneasy Rider"Here's an excerpt from Mark Bibbins's 13th BalloonRead this poem by Tyehimba JessCheck out Robin Coste Lewis's page on The Elders Project here. TEP captures and celebrates untold and underrepresented stories of activists, storytellers, and community builders who have witnessed and shaped great change in American public life. Read this consideration/critique of Cruising Read this interview of Mary Jo Bang.Stephen King addresses rumors about Musk insults here.Read this great review of Bianca Stone's fabulous The Mobius Strip Club of Grief.If you haven't seen the 20th anniversary edition of Richard Siken's Crush, check it out here. Check out Nighboat's Rob Halpern's Music for Porn Read Jenny Johnson's essay "Butch Blow Job" in Bomb.

durée : 00:11:06 - L'Avant-scène - par : Aurélie Charon - Alice Diop imagine une performance qu'elle va incarner avec la comédienne Kayije Kagame, autour de la postface du recueil de poèmes "Le Voyage de la Vénus noire" de Robin Coste Lewis, pour le Festival d'Automne 2025 à la MC93 de Bobigny. Elle vient d'en faire une lecture à Princeton University. - réalisation : Alexandre Fougeron - invités : Alice Diop Cinéaste

durée : 00:11:06 - L'Avant-scène - par : Aurélie Charon - Alice Diop imagine une performance qu'elle va incarner avec la comédienne Kayije Kagame, autour de la postface du recueil de poèmes "Le Voyage de la Vénus noire" de Robin Coste Lewis, pour le Festival d'Automne 2025 à la MC93 de Bobigny. Elle vient d'en faire une lecture à Princeton University. - réalisation : Alexandre Fougeron - invités : Alice Diop Cinéaste

Pérola Sem Rapariga é a primeira de duas criações que formam o díptico que resulta do encontro entre a encenadora Zia Soares e a escritora Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida. Pérola Sem Rapariga inspira-se na leitura de "Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other Poems", de Robin Coste Lewis, e no arquivo fotográfico de Alberto Hensche, que fotografou várias pessoas escravizadas no Brasil.Uma das condições acordadas entre Zia Soares e Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida para a criação do espectáculo foi que "não haveria texto pré-escrito".Depois de um périplo por diferentes cidades portuguesas, Pérola Sem Rapariga tem a última das apresentações no Centro Cultural de Belém, em Lisboa, este domingo.Nos bastidores do CCB, a RFI falou com Zia Soares. O processo criativo de Pérola Sem Rapariga, o papel dos diferentes intervenientes na criação da peça e da actualidade desta, os projectos futuros com a Companhia Teatro Griot, ou que envolvem a Guiné Bissau, foram alguns dos temas da conversa com a encenadora.Pérola Sem Rapariga integra o Ciclo Abril Abriu, uma iniciativa do Teatro Nacional D. Maria II.O espectáculo está integrado na programação comemorativa dos 50 anos do 25 Abril.Ficha TécnicaTexto: Djaimilia Pereira de AlmeidaDirecção e encenação: Zia SoaresInterpretação: Filipa Bossuet, Sara Fonseca da GraçaArtista visual: Kiluanji Kia HendaInstalação e figurinos: Neusa TrovoadaDesign de iluminação: Carolina CarameloMúsica e design de som: XullajiAssistência à encenação de movimento: Lucília RaimundoVídeo promocional: António CasteloAssistência geral: Aoaní d'AlvaCo-produção Sowing_arts, Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, no contexto da apap - FEMINIST FUTURES (projecto co-financiado pelo programa Europa Criativa da União Europeia)Parceria Abril Abriu Centro Cultural de BelémApoio Casa da Dança, Polo Cultural Gaivotas Boavista.

This episode asks the age old question: What the Hell is an Em Dash? As the first punctuation mark Annar and Claire cover in the WTH series, it is a fan favorite among contemporary writers, as evidenced by this tweet from author Alexander Chee: “Em-dash is the ‘just belt it and go' of punctuation. Thus my devotion to it.” There's even a (particularly nerdy) Distracted Boyfriend Meme circulating the web.  So what distinguishes an em dash from other dashes? Why do poets in particular have such a fondness for it? Why is she so flirty and fun? In this episode, the Host team gets to the bottom of these questions and find: more questions, of course! But also, lot's of great insight into how writers have come to affectionately use this hip punctuation mark.  These are the books discussed in this episode: Final Harvest by Emily Dickinson Sho by Douglas Kearney  To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness by Robin Coste Lewis  

When the poet Robin Coste Lewis discovered a trove of photographs under her late grandmother's bed, she recognized them not only as a document of her family's history during the Great Migration, but also as a testament to Black intimacy and ingenuity across generations. From studio portraits to snapshots, tintypes to Polaroids, these pictures provide the foundation of Robin's latest book, “To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness,” excerpts from which were published on newyorker.com. Robin Coste Lewis formerly served as poet laureate of Los Angeles, and her debut collection, “Voyage of the Sable Venus,” won the 2015 National Book Award for poetry.

Bongani Kona hosts Robin Coste Lewis for a discussion of her award-winning poetry collections To the Realisation of Perfect Helplessness and Voyage of the Sable Venus.  This capacious conversation includes a reckoning with mortality and a homage to the dead, brain damage and memory loss, poetry and metaphor, mentors, time as a tool of oppression, the life of Black Arctic explorer Matthew Henson, diaspora, Western art and visual culture, Robin's grandmother's photo album, unknowability and new ways of looking.  Bongani Kona is a PhD candidate and lecturer in the Department of History at the University of the Western Cape. He's also on the board of PEN South Africa.  Robin Coste Lewis won the National Book Award for her first collection of poetry Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other Poems (Knopf, 2015). Her second book, To the Realisation of Perfect Helplessness (Knopf, 2022) won the 2023 PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection. Robin is the former poet laureate of Los Angeles. She holds a PhD in Poetry and Visual Studies from the University of Southern California In this episode we stand in solidarity with İlhan Sami Çomak. He has been imprisoned in Türkiye for 28 years. You can read more about his case here: https://ilhancomak.wordpress.com/. A selection of his poems Separated from the Sun was published in September 2022:  https://smokestack-books.co.uk/book.php?book=223 As a tribute, Robin reads İlhan Sami Çomak's “I Give Praise to Flight” translated by Caroline Stockford and “There but for the Grace” by Wisława Szymborska. This podcast series is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Embassy in South Africa to promote open conversation and highlight shared histories.

Elizabeth and Larissa discuss how interpersonal trauma affects the way that we're able to show up for and be present in community.Referred to in the show:Robin Coste Lewis, Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other PoemsElizabeth reads the poem “The Mothers," which you can read here:  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/58757/the-mothersAlexis Hall, A Lady for a DukeDr. Marisa G Franco, PlatonicMusic by ZakharValaha from Pixabay Music by ZakharValaha from PixabayFollow us on Instagram @wonderminepodcast

Elizabeth and Larissa discuss how interpersonal trauma affects the way that we're able to show up for and be present in community.Referred to in the show:Robin Coste Lewis, Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other PoemsElizabeth reads the poem “The Mothers," which you can read here:  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/58757/the-mothersAlexis Hall, A Lady for a DukeDr. Marisa G Franco, PlatonicMusic by ZakharValaha from Pixabay Music by ZakharValaha from PixabayFollow us on Instagram @wonderminepodcast

Many on the right blame “wokeness” for all of America's ills—everything from deadly mass shootings to lower military recruitment. Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, recently signed a so-called Stop WOKE Act into law, and made the issue the center of his midterm victory speech. In Washington, there has been talk in the House of forming an “anti-woke caucus.” “I think ‘woke' is a very interesting term right now, because I think it's an unusable word—although it is used all the time—because it doesn't actually mean anything,” the linguist and lexicographer Tony Thorne, the author of “Dictionary of Contemporary Slang,” tells David Remnick.  Plus, the poet Robin Coste Lewis talks with the staff writer Hilton Als about how suffering a traumatic brian injury led her to a career in poetry. Her most recent book, “To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness,” was published last month.

Camonghne Felix is a writer, poet, and communications strategist from New York. She was the director of surrogates and strategic communications for Elizabeth Warren's 2020 presidential campaign. Her debut poetry collection, Build Yourself A Boat, was longlisted for the 2019 National Book Award, and her newest book, Dyscalculia, will be released through Penguin Random House on February 14, 2023. The conversation covers working on a presidential campaign, the downsides of vulnerability, and mental health in relationships. Join us on Patreon! SUBMIT: justbreakuppod.com FACEBOOK: /justbreakuppod INSTAGRAM: @justbreakuppod TWITTER: @justbreakuppod BLIND DATES: To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness by Robin Coste Lewis and Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au Just Break Up is a production of Du Vide Media. Make sure to check out all of our amazing shows! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Graywolf Press released Civil Service, the debut poetry collection by Jewish Currents Culture Editor Claire Schwartz. The book is a daring study of the violence woven into our world, from everyday encounters to the material of language itself. The poems unfold in three main sequences: a quartet of lyric lectures, a fragmentary narrative that follows a cast of archetypal figures named for the coordinates of their complicities with power—the Dictator, the Curator, the Accountant, and so on—and a series of interrogation scenes centered on a spectral, fugitive figure named Amira, who gives us a glimpse of another world. To celebrate the release of Civil Service, Schwartz spoke with Managing Editor Nathan Goldman and the book's editor at Graywolf Press, Chantz Erolin, about the book, as well as poems by Paul Celan and Edmond Jabès that deeply informed it. They discussed dispersed responsibility for state violence, thinking as feeling, and the political possibilities of poetry. Works Mentioned: https://bookshop.org/a/1530/9781644450949 (Civil Service) by Claire Schwartz “https://granta.com/lecture-on-loneliness/ (Lecture on Loneliness)” by Claire Schwartz “https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Freud_MourningAndMelancholia.pdf (Mourning and Melancholia)” by Sigmund Freud “https://apogeejournal.org/2016/09/06/the-felt-house-that-moves-us-a-conversation-with-saretta-morgan/ (The Felt House That Moves Us: A Conversation with Saretta Morgan),” a conversation with Muriel Leung and Joey De Jesus “https://sahityaparikrama.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/0/9/120943912/the_concept_of_character_in_fiction_william_gass.pdf (The Concept of Character in Fiction)” by William H. Gass The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois “https://poets.org/poem/death-fugue (Death Fugue)” by Paul Celan, trans. Pierre Joris “https://poets.org/poem/stretto (Stretto)” by Paul Celan, trans. Pierre Joris “https://jewishcurrents.org/celans-ferryman (Celan's Ferryman),” a conversation between Fanny Howe and Pierre Joris Voyage of the Sable Venus by Robin Coste Lewis “https://lithub.com/robin-coste-lewis-black-joy-is-my-primary-aesthetic/ (Robin Coste Lewis: ‘Black Joy is My Primary Aesthetic,')” a conversation between Claire Schwartz and Robin Coste Lewis The Book of Questions by Edmond Jabès, trans. Rosmarie Waldrop “https://tinhouse.com/podcast/rosmarie-waldrop-the-nick-of-time/ (Rosmarie Waldrop: The Nick of Time),” a conversation with David Naimon  Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald, trans. Anthea Bell “https://nourbese.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Gasp.pdf (The Ga(s)p)” by M. NourbeSe Philip “https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/fred-motens-radical-critique-of-the-present (Fred Moten's Radical Critique of the Present)” by David S. Wallace Minima Moralia by Theodor Adorno Reconsidering Reparations by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò “https://jewishcurrents.org/assuming-the-perspective-of-the-ancestor (Assuming the Perspective of the Ancestor),” a conversation between Claire Schwartz and Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò “https://lithub.com/perennial-a-poem-by-claire-schwartz/ (Perennial)” by Claire Schwartz Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

In the latest episode of Marian Goodman Gallery Presents, Julie Mehretu speaks with poet Robin Coste Lewis about their collaboration at the Galerie Marian Goodman in Paris, currently on view through 14 May 2022. This presentation marks the intersection between art and poetry: a new series of medium-sized paintings and two large-scale prints by Mehretu are presented in tandem with an audio recording and installation by Lewis. The collaboration between Mehretu and Lewis also marks the culmination of a political and aesthetic friendship between the two, which grew over time and which meditates on the relationship between the history of time, mark-making, human migrations, desire and the abstract.

Ukraine story follow up: Thousands of $ have been donatedto the family in cash, gift cards, gofundme donations. Great to see that, Will see them again next week and see how things are going.  More serious Ukraine commentary here. Thanks, Rick.Del reads a poem by Robin Coste Lewis. Seems fitting.  Del fails to mke human contact with H&R Block. No surprise. He needs to read more Robin Coste Lewis.Del meanders about fixing a found cue stick when his real intention was finding out how many chunks of chicken there are in Campbell's Chicken Soup. Send us a note to Buckstwoold@gmail.com with your soup story. Or pool cue story.Dave gives the home safety tip of the day:Your stovetop gas igniters should not be on their own circuit. Or maybe the tip is watch the pot; it does boil, after all.Speaking of ignition, Elon bought twitter, nowTesla stock is down 15%. More to come.Del's favorite clothes go to Gnome, Alaska.Dave fixes tornado bikes while the Google crew repairs their firbeoptic cable for the 11th time.Dave is reading Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins. A 2015 book, her first novel after her ss collection [Battleborn]  mentioned many episodes ago. It's a dystopian novel about California after the water runs out. People have abandoned their mansions, outlaw bands roam , state borders are closed, people are trying to ‘emigrate' to eastern or northern areas. What a place to raise a kid.Another Florida man story. So embarrassing.

S6 E67: In this episode, meet poets Robin Coste Lewis, Phillip B. Williams, and Elisabet Velasquez. Step into the recording booth and learn how these authors' books of poetry and a novel-in-verse came to be. Plus, hear what each writer learned about themselves during the recording process. Voyage of the Sable Venus by Robin Coste Lewis: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/250774/voyage-of-the-sable-venus/ Mutiny by Phillip B. Williams: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/688039/mutiny/ When We Make It by Elisabet Velasquez: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/665231/when-we-make-it/

"The notion of a stranger, for me—the way I was raised and the way that I studied—is that the stranger just might hold the key to your liberation" Continuing "Divinity Dialogues"—a special edition podcast series from Harvard Divinity School that puts conversations on faith, purpose, and bearing witness at the center of today's most pressing issues. Today, we hear from HDS alum Robin Coste Lewis, MTS '97. Robin is a poet laureate, National Book Award winner, Doctor of Creative Writing and Literature, LA Woman of the Year, and avid Sanskrit scholar whose current research focuses on the intersecting production histories of early African American poetry and photography. She is also one of this year's Gomes Distinguished Alumni Honorees. In the interview, Robin delves into the connections between Sanskrit and the time-space continuum and what Shiva might be able to teach us about liberation by way of strangers. Note: The full conversation was edited for time to keep this podcast in the 30-minute range. Transcript available: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/07/06/2021/divinity-dialogues-robin-coste-lewis-epic-poetry-and-sacredness-female-deities

For the season finale of Rough Draft, we’re welcoming poet Robin Coste Lewis. Robin’s blazing intellect and pitch-perfect way with words are no shocker. Her debut poetry collection Voyage of the Sable Venus won the National Book Award in poetry in 2015, the first time a debut collection by an African-American had won the prize (and the first time a debut had won since 1974). She brings it all in this conversation that touches on growing up in Compton and New Orleans, removing the “I” from her writing, and pursuing beauty. Featuring guest poetry performances from Marquesha Babers and Monique Mitchell! Watch Rough Draft and other Topic shows on the Apple TV app. Go to apple.co/topic to get your free 7-day trial. Follow Robin Coste Lewis @robincostelewis Follow Marquesha Babers @LADI3LYRIX Follow Monique Mitchell @mnqmtchll Rough Draft is a Topic Original Series. Hosted by Reza Aslan Executive Produced by Reza Aslan, David Andreone, Alfredo de Villa, and Safa Samieyazde’-Yazd. Executive Producers for Topic, Ryan Chanatry, Anna Holmes, and Gena Konstantinakos. Production aid from Russell Sperberg. Music and Theme by Jacob Snider. Sound by Sean Oakley. Editing and mixing by Will Stanton, with additional editing by Blake V. Twitter | @roughdraftreza Facebook | Rough Draft with Reza Aslan Follow Reza @rezaaslan Email us at roughdraftpodcast@topic.com For transcripts and full credits, head to https://www.topic.com/rough-draft-podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Paola and Janice are sleepy AF, but they get it together to talk about all things Venus. Paola breaks down Venusian ways, and Janice reads "Catalog 1: Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome” from Voyage of the Sable Venus by Robin Coste Lewis. Janice asks Paola to help analyze the poem by flexing her Art History knowledge. Everything works out, and nap vibes ensue. -- 00:00:00 Intro 00:10:02 - Venus 00:34:17 - Poem 00:55:12 - Shout-outs!

Litquake and City Lights present John Freeman with Robin Coste Lewis, Tommy Orange, and Matt Summell. John Freeman celebrates the latest installment of the journal that is called "a powerful force in the literary world" (Los Angeles Times.) Freeman's turns to one of the greatest elevating forces of life: love. FREEMAN'S: Best New Writings on LOVE edited by John Freeman, and published by Grove Press. Litquake and City Lights present John Freeman with Robin Coste Lewis, Tommy Orange, and Matt Summell. John Freeman celebrates the latest installment of the journal that is called "a powerful force in the literary world" (Los Angeles Times.) Freeman's turns to one of the greatest elevating forces of life: love. FREEMAN'S: Best New Writings on LOVE edited by John Freeman, and published by Grove Press.

Poet, scholar, and National Book Award winner Robin Coste Lewis presents on “The Race Within Erasure.”

Today's poem is Paramount by Robin Coste Lewis. This episode features guest host Jenny Xie.

John Freeman and Robin Coste Lewis discuss Freeman's: The Best New Writing on California.

Host Rachel Zucker speaks with Robin Coste Lewis, author of the 2015 National Book Award winning Voyage of the Sable Venus and poet laureate of Los Angeles, about when to say no, how to say no, wishing people would educate themselves on centuries old African American intellectual tradition before asking her to respond to obvious questions, professionalism, calling in, her position as Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, the pressure, power and exhaustion of having to offering historical correctives, migration, celebrating black culture, archives, writing work that spans 38,000 years, photography, narrative as a story filled with holes, the arctic, brain damage, being a “baby writer” in her fifties, the value of having to confront mortality, environmentalism, research as devotion, the difference between beauty and prettiness, Cave Canem, Gwendolyn Brooks, loneliness, why she’s going to burn her diaries, Henri Matisse, and much more.

In this final episode, Sonya's guest is Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, author of Voyage of the Sable Venus, Robin Coste Lewis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robin Coste Lewis is the poet laureate of Los Angeles and a writer-in-residence at the University of Southern California. Her first collection Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other Poems was widely praised by critics and honored with the 2015 National Book Award for Poetry. Lewis discusses her poetry and reads from the collection. On November 16, 2017 Lewis gave a reading from Voyage of the Sable Venus as a guest of the Creative Writing Program.

I had a lot of fun talking with Melbourne-based writer and spoken word artist Rhea Bhagat for this episode on Robin Coste Lewis's poem On the Road to Sri Bhuvaneshwari. We covered plenty of ground… Show notes Rhea's article Daba (excerpt) from The Lifted Brow's Capital issue Rhea's Overland piece Cashmere and the politics of the brown body Typecast as a … Continue reading "Ep 39. Rhea Bhagat on Dubai and Robin Coste Lewis"

On January 31, 2017, Robin D.G. Kelley and Robin Coste Lewis reflected on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” This letter was written in response to a public statement of concern issued by eight white religious leaders of the American South about the civil rights movement’s tactics of nonviolent direct action. Kelley and Lewis reflected on this historic document, and discussed what we can learn now from the resistance strategies King championed. Suggested Reading & Viewing Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., April 16, 1963 Beyond Vietnam, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., April 4, 1967 I Am Not Your Negro, Raoul Peck, screening January 30, 2017 at the Hammer Museum This event was part of Clockshop’s Counter-Inaugural, a series of talks addressing the misogyny, hate speech, and climate change denial that dominated the 2016 presidential campaign. It was recorded by Tom Carroll.

 Following the Pulitzer prize-winning collection Stag’s Leap, Sharon Olds’ newest book of poems, Odes, addresses and embodies love, gender, and sexual politics through the powerful and tender age-old poetic form of the ode. National Book Award winner Robin Coste Lewis’ stunning poetry debut, Voyage of the Sable Venus, considers the roles of desire and race in the construction of the self through lyrical meditations on the black female figure. Join us as these poets read from their intimate work and interrogate the structure of the body through its pleasures and sorrows, complex aesthetics and universal truths. 

For our final NYU event this summer we’re delighted to welcome the extraordinary poet Robin Coste Lewis and to welcome back the inimitable Zadie Smith.

Writers Tisa Bryant, Lynell George, Robin Coste Lewis, and Fred Moten premiere new works of poetry and creative nonfiction under the stars in the Clockshop courtyard. For these commissions, each writer spent an extended period of time working in the Octavia E. Butler archive at The Huntington Library.

Robin on why the Founders rejected democracy, the 8 unknown US presidents before George Washington, and the Harriet Tubman $20 bill. Special Poetry Month Show! Guest poets Alicia Ostriker, Robin Coste Lewis, Ursula K. Le Guin read from their work. Alicia Ostriker: On Rutgers.edu » On Poets.org » Robin Coste Lewis: Author Page on Amazon.com » Ursula K. Le Guin: UrsulaKLeGuin.com »

Poet, scholar, and National Book Award winner Robin Coste Lewis presents on “The Race Within Erasure.”

We’re laughing on the outside and crying on the inside this week.The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Brings Copyright Law Into the 21st Century - 00:59The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation announced this week it will no longer charge copyright fees except for commercial uses (did you know artists can sue you for posting a photo of their work online?). Producer Aaron Scott explains why this is a big deal and speaks with Rauschenberg's son, who just so happens to be Portlander Christopher Rauschenberg, a photographer and co-founder of Blue Sky Gallery.Bullseye Glass Update - 5:05The air emissions story that began at two Portland art-glass makers has boiled over into state government and soon into the court room. Oregon’s top environmental administrator and an air quality regulator stepped down this week. Earthfix's Tony Schick stopped by to give us an update.The Electric Poetry of Robin Coste Lewis - 11:05Robin Coste Lewis won the National Book Award last year for her debut poetry collection, Voyage of the Sable Venus. The structure of the book's titular poem was guided by one simple rule: it is made up entirely of the titles, catalog entries and exhibit descriptions of artistic depictions of black female figures. Coste Lewis spoke with Think Out Loud's Dave Miller and read several poems. M. Ward Sings to His Baby (and opbmusic) - 22:44The latest release from M. Ward, More Rain, might sound like a Portland soundtrack, but it belies its name with sunny sounds of doo-wop and golden era AM radio sensibilities. The artist came by the OPB studios to play a few songs with a power backing band (REM's Scott McCoy, Mike Coykendall, and Alialujah Choir's Adam Selzer and Alia Farah), who he insists he did not find on Craigslist. The Book of Unknown Americans at Milagro Theater - 29:55The Multnomah County Library's Everybody Reads this year focuses on Cristina Henríquez's lauded novel, The Book of Unknown Americans. Henríquez will be in town on Tuesday (we'll have excerpts for you next week), but in preparation, Milagro Theatre brought in a group of actors to read her work. We share one of our favorites.Sandra Cisneros at Wordstock - 34:48One of Henríquez's influences was Sandra Cisneros' 1984 novel, The House on Mango Street. The story revolves around a girl trying to escape her poor Chicago neighborhood and is one of the few novels from a Latina perspective to be embraced by the literary establishment. We interviewed Cisneros at Wordstock last November shortly after the release of her latest work, A House of My Own: Stories From My Life.Farewell, Sweet Comedy: Amy Miller and Sean Jordan - 41:15Stand-up veterans Sean Jordan and Amy Miller are leaving for Los Angeles this month but not before one final farewell at Aladdin Theater on Mar. 13. The comedians talk with April Baer about what they love about Portland and why they have to leave.Visit our website for videos and full interviews: http://www.opb.org/radio/article/m-ward-robin-coste-lewis-robert-rauschenberg-sandra-cisneros-amy-miller-sean-jordan

Robin on the Oscars' mess, and on women at the Wailing Wall. Guests: award-winning poet Robin Coste Lewis; disability rights lawyer Amy Epstein Gluck; an in-depth report from Germany about the New Year's Eve attacks on women. Plus Surrealism Corner! Robin Coste Lewis: Amy Epstein Gluck: Alexander Eul:

Ep 33 Diana Arterian & Robin Coste Lewis: The People We close out the show with a song from Minneapolis based musician Jesse Whitney from his new album Impossible Buildings. You can find out more about his music at http://www.jsswhtny.com - and the name of the track is Immense Rooms Collapsing Inwards. Diana Arterian is a poetry editor at Noemi Press and a managing editor and founding editor at the small press Ricochet. Her chapbook Death Centos came out from Ugly Duckling Presse in 2013. She'll be talking to us about some of her new work, a collection centered around the historical figure of Agripina the Younger. Robin Coste Lewis is a Provost's Fellow in the Creative Writing & Literature PhD Program at USC. A Cave Canem Fellow, she received her MFA from New York University's Creative Writing Program where she was a Goldwater Fellow in poetry. Her first book, Voyage of the Sable Venus from Knopf won the 2015 National Book Award in poetry.

Wednesday Reading Series Jen Hofer is a Los Angeles-based poet, translator, social justice interpreter, teacher, knitter, book-maker, public letter-writer, urban cyclist, and co-founder (with John Pluecker) of the language justice and language experimentation collaborative Antena. She publishes poems and translations with numerous small presses, including Action Books, Atelos, belladonna, Counterpath Press, Kenning Editions, Insert Press, Les Figues Press, Litmus Press, LRL Textile Editions, New Lights Press, Palm Press, Subpress, Ugly Duckling Presse, and in various DIY/DIT incarnations. Robin Coste Lewis is a Provost's Fellow in Poetry and Visual Studies at the University of Southern California. She is also a Cave Canem fellow and a fellow of the Los Angeles Institute of the Humanities. She received her MFA from NYU in poetry, and an MTS in Sanskrit and comparative religious literature from the Divinity School at Harvard University. A finalist for the International War Poetry Prize, the National Rita Dove Prize, and the Discovery Prize, her work has appeared in various journals and anthologies, including The Massachusetts Review, Callaloo, The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review, Transition, VIDA, Phantom Limb, and Lambda, amongst others. She has taught at Wheaton College, Hunter College, Hampshire College and the NYU Low-Residency MFA in Paris. Fellowships and awards include the Caldera Foundation, the Ragdale Foundation, the Headlands Center for the Arts, and the Summer Literary Seminars in Kenya. Her collection Voyage of the Sable Venus is forthcoming from Knopf. Born in Compton, California, her family is from New Orleans.

Two powerful poets read from their work and discuss how poetry can become an active tool for rethinking race in America. Robin Coste Lewis reads from her upcoming poetry collection, Voyage of the Sable Venus, which lyrically catalogs representations of the black figure in the fine arts, with Claudia Rankine—a poet whose incendiary new book, Citizen: An American Lyric—is a powerful testament to the individual and collective effects of racism in our often named “post-racial” society.*Click here to see photos from the program!

A Tribute to Wanda ColemanWith Terrance Hayes and Douglas KearneyMusic By David Ornette CherryAnd featuring Stephen Kessler, Ron Koertge, Laurel Ann Bogen, Charles Harper Webb, Michael Datcher, Suzanne Lummis, Sesshu Foster, Jack and Adelle Foley, Brendan Constantine, Cecilia Woloch, Robin Coste Lewis, and Austin Straus.*Click HERE to see photos from the program!

This annual Cave Canem poetry reading at the Pratt features Thomas Sayers Ellis reading from his new collection, Skin, Inc.: Identity Repair Poems. Ellis is known in the poetry community as a literary activist and innovator, one whose poems "resist limitations and rigorously embrace wholeness." His first full-length collection, The Maverick Room, won the John C. Zacharis First Book Award from Ploughshares. Ellis teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and in the Lesley University low-residency MFA program, and he is a faculty member of Cave Canem.Other Cave Canem poets who will be reading with Ellis:R. Dwayne Betts, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Bettina Judd, Kateema Lee, Robin Coste Lewis, Carlo Paul, Kamau Rucker, and Lamar Wilson.Hosted by Reginald Harris of Poets House. Recorded On: Sunday, December 5, 2010