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Begin in delight, end in wisdom.
By Edward Field
For the month of January, we’re focusing on what keeps us writing. How do we refresh our writing habits and routines? How do poets sustain their writing practices? Today, Holly Amos enlists the help of poets and educators Stefania Gomez and Maggie Queeney. Stefania and Maggie both work in the Poetry Foundation library, and they share some of their inspirations, tips, challenges, and resources. Holly offers two writing prompts, and we hear advice on how to keep making via clips from CAConrad, Jordan Peele, Vi Khi Nao, Ocean Vuong, and Anne Waldman.
Links and writing prompts mentioned in the episode:
–Tricia Hersey’s Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto
–Felicia Rose Chavez’s The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom
–CAConrad’s website contains many (Soma)tic Poetry Ritual links, and here’s CA speaking about them on Poetry Off the Shelf
–Vi Khi Nao on boredom on the Between the Covers podcast from Tin House
–Jordan Peele on writing Get Out at the 2017 Film Independent Forum
–Anne Waldman gives advice to young writers at the Louisiana Channel
–Ocean Vuong talks about where he wrote his first book on Late Night with Seth Meyers
Boredom Prompt
1. Do something boring. It could be sitting in front of a window, watching a TV show that is boring, listening to a podcast that's not that engaging, but don't multitask—do just the one thing, and do it for as much time as you have (fifteen minutes if that's all you have, or thirty if you've got longer).
2. While you're doing whatever boring thing you're doing, have a timer go off every three minutes, and when it goes off, write down three words.
3. Now, use the words you wrote down to begin your poem. What do they have in common? What's the thread you're finding? Or string them all together for your first line.
Dream Writing Space Prompt
1. Envision the place where you're writing in ten years in your dream life. What does that space look like? What's there? Who's there? How tall are the ceilings? What is the light like?
2. Spend ten minutes writing in detail about the space. Embody that future self in that future space.
3. Now write a poem “remembering” your old writing space (so “remembering” your current writing space).
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AudioFrom The Poetry Magazine Podcast January 2023
For the month of January, we’re focusing on what keeps us writing. How do poets sustain their writing practices? Are there generative tips and tricks we can learn from them?...
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AudioFrom The Poetry Magazine Podcast December 2022
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AudioFrom The Poetry Magazine Podcast December 2022
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AudioFrom The Poetry Magazine Podcast November 2022
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From Poetry Off the Shelf January 2023
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From Poetry Off the Shelf December 2022
Remembering Richard Howard as a poet, mentor, and friend, plus a few words on money by Bernadette Mayer.
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From Poetry Off the Shelf December 2022
Celes Tisdale on similarities, teaching after the uprising, and his mother's favorite poet.
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From Poetry Off the Shelf November 2022
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Join us this week in Atlanta, where Brittany and Ajanae sit down with Maya Marshall to discuss Maya’s debut collection, All the Blood Involved in Love (Haymarket Press). This conversation centers around choice, obligation and priorities, both on and off the page. Listen as they navigate falling in love, managing illness, choosing between work and family, and much more!
Until Next Time:
Here are some pieces of media to accompany your experience of the episode, and a writing prompt to tide you over until we meet again!
Charles Bukowski: The Difference Between a Bad Poet and a Good one is Luck
Nina Simone: Nina Simone Little girl blue
Black Woman Barista at Coffee Shop
Writing Prompt: Write a poem where the reader gets to choose their own ending. This may involve writing the poem in multiple stanzas or sections and asking the reader to skip ahead.
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From VS January 2023
This week, Brittany and Ajanae talk with guest Naomi Shihab Nye about the joy and wonder of youth, poets as vessels, editing as an act of devotion, and the complexity...
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From VS January 2023
On this week’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae continue their mini tour of the South in Houston, Texas. Next, they talk with Texas Poet Laureate Lupe Mendez about familial responsibility, masculinity,...
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From VS December 2022
On this week’s episode, Brittany and Ajanae travel to Houston, Texas for the first interview of their (mini) South tour. There, they talk with Joy Priest about landscape, road trips,...
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From VS December 2022
In this episode, Wes reflects on his transition from being a youth to adulthood as it relates to the poetry scene, level of empathy, and approach to wonder.
Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Lisa Fishman, Gabriel Ojeda-Sagué, and Laynie Browne.
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From Poem Talk December 2022
Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Jerome Rothenberg, Pierre Joris, and Charles Bernstein.
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From Poem Talk November 2022
Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Ahmad Almallah, Huda Fakhreddine, and Kevin Platt.
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From Poem Talk October 2022
Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Julia Bloch, Charles Bernstein, and Eric Falci. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.
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From Poem Talk September 2022
Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Carlos Decena, Dagmawi Woubshet, and Abdulhamit Arvas.
Sandra Doller meditates on aging and motherhood. Produced by Katie Klocksin.
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From PoetryNow December 2019
Stacy Szymaszek writes a poem in gratitude to her students. Produced by Katie Klocksin.
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From PoetryNow December 2019
Will Alexander finds ways of writing poems to revitalize language as a whole. Produced by Katie Klocksin.
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From PoetryNow December 2019
Christine Kanownik examines the place of religion and spirituality in secular life. Produced by Katie Klocksin.
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From PoetryNow December 2019
Evie Shockley expresses frustration over ongoing immigration policies and thinks about ways Americans might better live together. Produced by Katie Klocksin.
Recordings of poet Lorine Niedecker with an introduction to her life and work. Recorded at home in 1970. Recording courtesy of PennSound.
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From Essential American Poets March 2012
Recordings of poet Lorine Niedecker with an introduction to her life and work. Recorded at home in 1970. Recording courtesy of PennSound.
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From Essential American Poets January 2012
Recordings of poet Gertrude Stein, with an introduction to her life and work. Recorded in 1934. Recording courtesy of PennSound. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.
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From Essential American Poets January 2012
Recordings of former poet laureate Charles Simic, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded 2003, Key West, FL. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.
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From Essential American Poets December 2011
Recordings of poet Alan Dugan, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded in 1962, New York City, New York. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.
Malena Mörling and Jonas Ellerström discuss Swedish poetry and the challenges of translation, and they read some poems in both Swedish and English from their anthology, The Star By My Head.
Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.
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From Poetry Lectures November 2015
Christopher Merrill speaks with Harris Khalique about literary traditions in Pakistan, the cultural influences of different cities, and the important role of women in Pakistani literature.
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From Poetry Lectures February 2014
Kwame Dawes speaks with Matthew Shenoda about Shenoda's poetry and identity as an Egyptian American, and the poetry of the African diaspora. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript...
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From Poetry Lectures December 2013
South African poet Gabeba Baderoon speaks with Matthew Shenoda about poetry and apartheid in South Africa. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.
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From Poetry Lectures November 2013
American poet Kevin Young talks to Les Murray about Australian poetry and culture. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.
An audio tour of films featuring Vito Acconci, Erik Satie, Vicki Bennett, Karl Holmquist, and more from the UbuWeb archive.
Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.
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From Avant-Garde All the Time September 2010
Samples from from Craig Dworkin's UbuWeb paper “Unheard Music,” featuring John Cage, Steve Reich, Mieko Shiomi, Yves Klein, and more.
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From Avant-Garde All the Time July 2010
Audio interpretations of Gertrude Stein from the UbuWeb archives. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.
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From Avant-Garde All the Time June 2010
Yoko Ono flushing toilets, La Monte Young’s “Theater of Eternal Music,” Larry Miller’s baby crying, Alison Knowles onion skin music and loads more. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a...
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From Avant-Garde All the Time March 2010
Gertrude Stein at the Algonquin, William Carlos Williams trying to remember “The Red Wheelbarrow,” Salvador Dali on his phallic moustache, Marcel Duchamp, Jacques Derrida, and scads more from the archive. Need...
Established in 1940 by the WPA's Federal Art Project, the South Side Community Art Center has provided a second home for the city's African-American artists. Haki Madhubuti, founding editor of Third World Press, reads.
Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.
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From Chicago Poetry Tour Podcast October 2010
One of the 20th century's most significant poets, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about race in America, often from the perspective of her Bronzeville neighborhood. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a...
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From Chicago Poetry Tour Podcast September 2010
Margaret Walker's signature poem "For My People" encompasses the strengths and struggles of Blacks not only in Chicago but throughout America. Need a transcript of this episode? Request a transcript here.
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From Chicago Poetry Tour Podcast September 2010
The DuSable Museum is one of the nation's premier institutions dedicated to the history, art, and culture of the African diaspora. Quraysh Ali Lansana reads from his collection They Shall...
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From Chicago Poetry Tour Podcast August 2010
Pilsen was a diverse neighborhood in Chicago long before anybody used the word “diversity.” Stuart Dybek and Ana Castillo read poems inspired by their childhoods there. Need a transcript of this...