Ep 38. To get the news from poems
‘It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die every day for lack of what is found there.’ A few thoughts on poetry and the news along with a must-listen poetry podcast.
Show notes
- Episode 18 of Commonplace
- Talk by Terrance Hayes
- Asphodel, That Greeny Flower by William Carlos Williams
- Williams’s “Asphodel, That Greeny Flower”
by Ann Fisher-Wirth - If You Are Over Staying Woke by Morgan Parker
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Ep 37. Magdalena Ball on Samuel Wagan Watson
Compulsive reader (and ModPo classmate) Magdalena Ball chats with me about the event that stopped her latest novel in its tracks and resulted in her new collection of poetry – Unmaking Atoms. We also take a close look at Samuel Wagan Watson’s intriguing poem A one ended boomerang.
Show notes
- The Newcastle Writers Festival
- More about Samuel Wagan Watson
- Poetic mothers Adrienne Rich, Elizabeth Bishop and Edna St. Vincent Millay
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Ep 36. Poetry basics: It doesn’t even rhyme!
People have complicated feelings about rhyme. Today I’m looking at seven types of rhyme based on Poetry Foundation’s glossary to see how cringeworthy it really is.
Show notes
- Marionette by Jessica Wilkinson (Vagabond Press, 2012)
- Broken/Open by Jill Jones (Salt, 2005)
- Revolving Days by David Malouf (UQP, 2008)
- Free Will and the Clouds by Rob Wilson (Grand Parade Poets, 2014)
- The Balcony by David Brooks (UQP, 2008)
- Scar Revision by Tracy Ryan (Fremantle Press, 2008)
- The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Kinsella (Penguin, 2008)
- The Monkey’s Mask by Dorothy Porter (Picador, 1994)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Ep 35. Corey Wakeling: Having fun with the ANZAC
Two larrikins asking what you’re into, Merlions toasting at your table, a pig showing off – Australia is pretty hilarious when you think about it…
I’m so grateful to Corey Wakeling for walking me through the fantastic Michael Farrell poem ‘An Australian Comedy’ in this episode, which you can find in his 2015 collection Cocky’s Joy.
We also talk about another Farrell collection, Break Me Ouch, along with what it’s like to move away from your poetic community after finding your place, and Corey’s upcoming visit to Oz.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Ep 34. Poetry basics: Got rhythm?
When my friend asked me to explain how rhythm works in poetry I thought I’d have no trouble…until I opened my poetry encyclopedia.
Show notes
- The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
- Looking at rhythm and meter in poetry – Poetry for Dummies
- The Violence of Work – Geoff Goodfellow
- Observation – Dorothy Parker
- Mending Wall – Robert Frost
- Another definition of blank verse
- Heisenberg Saying Goodbye to Mum at Lilyfield – Luke Davies
- Sonnet 18
- Having it Out with Melancholy – Jane Kenyon
And if you’re keen, a little more on those fascinating names for feet and metre.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Ep 33. Jessica Wilkinson on poetic biography
How do you tell a life story through a poem? For Jessica Wilkinson, poetry can go much further than straightforward biography. In this interview she talks about discovering Susan Howe, working with (not against) a self-confessed short attention span, and founding the fantastic Rabbit poetry journal.
Show notes
- Beyond Facts and Accuracies in Axon
- Marionette and Suite for Percy Grainger (Vagabond Press)
- George Balanchine
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS