A Poet's 'Hardheaded' Reflection on Life Fresh Air May 5, 2008 In his new collection, Hardheaded Weather: New and Selected Poems, poet Cornelius Eady writes of his transition from urban renter to rural homeowner and the encroachment of middle age. A Poet's 'Hardheaded' Reflection on Life Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90184195/90184319" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Lyrical Alchemist Al Young Combining Poetry, Blues April 30, 2008 In honor of National Poetry Month, Farai Chideya talks with Al Young, California's Poet Laureate, about the art and joys of poetry. His latest book, Something About the Blues, includes a CD of Young reading his works, often with jazz accompaniment. Lyrical Alchemist Al Young Combining Poetry, Blues Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90071031/90071018" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Lyrical Alchemist Al Young Combining Poetry, Blues Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90071031/90071018" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
'Elizabeth Bishop: Poems, Prose and Letters' Fresh Air April 29, 2008 Music critic Lloyd Schwartz first met poet Elizabeth Bishop when she moved to Cambridge in the early 1970s after living in Brazil for nearly 20 years. Now Schwartz has co-edited a new collection of work by the former U.S. Poet Laureate. 'Elizabeth Bishop: Poems, Prose and Letters' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90029272/90033262" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Review A Spring Bouquet of Poetry April 28, 2008 As National Poetry Month draws to a close, we recognize five new volumes that celebrate the form, including verse probing the darkness at the edge of everyday life from U.S. Poet Laureate Charles Simic and hard questions posed in comic fashion from Jane Shore. A Spring Bouquet of Poetry Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89993088/90011973" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Poet Edward Hirsch Under the Microscope April 27, 2008 The poet discusses how his new book, Special Orders, is one long poem in and of itself. He also discusses memory and loss. Poet Edward Hirsch Under the Microscope Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89984960/89984927" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Poet Edward Hirsch Under the Microscope Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89984960/89984927" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
California Poet Laureate Al Young's 'Blues' April 24, 2008 Al Young took to writing poetry, as he describes it in one poem, "to make out the sound of my own background music." Now California's poet laureate, he writes about the blues, jazz and life in the geographically and culturally diverse state. California Poet Laureate Al Young's 'Blues' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89884635/89905094" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
California Poet Laureate Al Young's 'Blues' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89884635/89905094" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Poet's Intimate Stanzas Explore Grief and Salvation March 8, 2008 In his new poetry collection, the acclaimed poet Li-Young Lee looks back on his extraordinary family history in meditations on suffering, prayer, death and love. Though his poetry is personal, Lee says it describes universal emotions and experiences. Poet's Intimate Stanzas Explore Grief and Salvation Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/87784720/87824487" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Ted Kooser Shares the Poetry of Valentine's Day February 14, 2008 Since 1986, Ted Kooser has written an annual Valentine's Day poem and sent it to an ever-growing list of women. It's a project the former U.S. poet laureate ended last year. But now, he's collected those poems in a new book, Valentines. Ted Kooser Shares the Poetry of Valentine's Day Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/18990762/19055780" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review You Must Read This 'Leaves of Grass' Still Growing, Inspiring October 8, 2007 Author Diane Ackerman writes that Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass is an epic journey of self-discovery. He began with a microscopic eye focused on a leaf of grass, and then stretched his mental eye out to the beauty of the farthest nebulae. 'Leaves of Grass' Still Growing, Inspiring Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/14965285/15099980" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
'Leaves of Grass' Still Growing, Inspiring Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/14965285/15099980" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Poet Natasha Trethewey, Hymning the Native Guard Fresh Air July 16, 2007 Natasha Trethewey was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her poetry collection Native Guard. Trethewey grew up bi-racial in Mississippi, and her mother was murdered by her stepfather; these, along with the South, are recurring themes in her poetry. Poet Natasha Trethewey, Hymning the Native Guard Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/12003278/12003966" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Dunya Mikhail: 'The War Works Hard' July 6, 2007 War is a recurring theme for poet Dunya Mikhail, an Iraqi exile who fled her country after being placed on Saddam Hussein's enemies list. Her poem "The War Works Hard" offers an ironic take on the meaning and consequence of war. Dunya Mikhail: 'The War Works Hard' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/11762755/11762770" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review You Must Read This Szymborska's 'View': Small Truths Sharply Etched June 5, 2007 Adam Gopnik says the Nobel Prize winner isn't merely a poet: She's "a necessary writer, as necessary as toast," adept at delivering "a small truth articulated as a sharp ironic point" — and "an emotion given a shape neither all too familiar nor all too abstract." Szymborska's 'View': Small Truths Sharply Etched Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/10721773/10734503" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Szymborska's 'View': Small Truths Sharply Etched Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/10721773/10734503" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
'Thanksgiving Letter from Harry' April 30, 2007 Carl Dennis is the artist in residence at SUNY at Buffalo. "Thanksgiving Letter from Henry" is a poem from his most recent book, Unknown Friends, which will be released in April by Penguin.
A Pacifist's Plainspoken Poetry April 29, 2007 All Things Considered ends its April poetry series with poet William Stafford, a pacifist who came of age between the two world wars. NPR contributor Henry Lyman, the longtime host of the public radio program Poems to a Listener, sat down with Stafford in 1990. A Pacifist's Plainspoken Poetry Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9859873/9859876" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Love, War and History: Israel's Yehuda Amichai April 22, 2007 Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai talks to Henry Lyman, in an excerpt from Lyman's long-running public-radio series Poems to the Listener. Love, War and History: Israel's Yehuda Amichai Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9699843/9727401" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Love, War and History: Israel's Yehuda Amichai Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/9699843/9727401" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript