Ep 156. Quitting.

Giving up on poetry, the luxury of regret, and relapse. With help from Liz Taylor & Van Johnson.

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Ep 155. Luke Beesley: There is no puzzle

I interviewed Luke Beesley on a rainy Friday, keen to ask about some of what came up when I spoke to Matthew Buckley Smith on Sleerickets episode 30, and not to ask about process, or influence. (I failed to avoid those areas.)

Luke reads from his latest collection Aqua Spinach as well as from Jam Sticky Vision, and we talk about the fact that we have oceans of patience for weirdos like David Lynch, but very little for contemporary poetry we don’t immediately ‘get’.

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Ep 154. The big sleep

A story.

With thanks to ford. for allowing me to use his beautiful track Dusk as the outro here. Also to Lauren Bacall, Andre Prévin & Dinah Shore.

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Ep 153. Jennifer Compton: Poetry as Cassandra

I ask the inimitable Jennifer Compton about her poem Dear Les, why we have no boys in our poetry group, and gaining control by losing it. We also chat about a new poem of hers, and then I get a rejection in real time.

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Ep 151. Peter Goldsworthy: ‘There are 25 million poets in this country.’

Peter Goldsworthy (poet, novelist, Medal of Australia recipient…) describes himself as a doctor-writer. In this last Poetry Month interview, we talk about why he writes in the direct, plain-speaking way he does, the poems he’s been writing about his cancer treatment, and why he thinks anyone who wants to write poetry should simply ‘go for it’.

Ep 150. Nerding out with Eleanor

My dear friend Eleanor Smagarinsky joined me for this episode, in which we gossip and laugh about workshops that work, workshops that don’t work, and the erotics of language. Also, James Schuyler.

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Ep 148. Loki Liddle: ‘There are no Aboriginals in On The Road’

Loki Liddle is a self-described mischief maker, so I thought I’d I ask him whether he ever gets any pushback for not being ‘serious enough’ in his work. He also talks about satire, playfulness, the role of the MC, and how his poems have been received (and, once, totally misinterpreted). Before that, I go on a long digression, responding to Matthew Buckley Smith, about learning how to connect with an audience.

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Ep 147. Dan Hogan: ‘Somewhere a landlord is kissing another landlord’

‘Work sucks. Do a PhD.’ So my big sister advised me, and I don’t think she was wrong (at least about the first part). In this episode I talk about grappling with work in poems, and chat with Dan Hogan about what it is to write against the backdrop of ‘multiple, overlapping crises’.

(If someone could explain the Horses thing to me I’d appreciate it.)

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