7. Some poetry podcasts

This evening while I cooked dinner (roasted root veggie salad with buttermilk dressing, to go with leftover cinnamon chicken), I listened to a podcast that is becoming a go-to: The Poetry Space, with Katie Dozier of The NFT Poetry Gallery and Timothy Green of Rattle—neither of which sites I know, but I should, I think. I've listened to The Poetry Space a few times now, and always enjoy the poetic analysis, the banter, the opinions, the observations. One of the members of my Thursday generative group, Dick Westheimer, is part of the "Squad," and it tickles me to hear his voice—and thoughts—in my headphones.

The episode I listened to today was part 1 of "How to Write an Interesting Poem." Three of the participants shared their lists of ten (or in Dick's case, eleven) qualities that will cause a poetry editor to sit up and take notice, and I would present them here, only I didn't take notes, and I was only three-quarters listening because I was trying to follow a recipe and keep kale and beets from burning. They included such things as a distinctive voice, music, narrative authority, surprise—but they said it better than I can. I might have to go back and take those notes, and if I do, I'll update this post accordingly. (Or write a new one.)

Another poetry podcast I love is Pádraig Ó Tuama's Poetry Unbound. In it, Pádraig reads a poem, then talks about it in his beautifully perceptive way, then reads it again—and on the second reading you hear it that much better. Alas, he doesn't make too many episodes, but there is a good backlog that I'd like to make a habit of visiting—many poets I've never heard of, some I have. 

And today I heard about a show that's apparently been airing on the radio (WJCU) for years, and only now is being archived for retrieval by listeners, Wordplay, hosted by poets George Bilgere and John Donoghue—but not restricted to poetry. Which I shall have to check out. Bilgere's daily newsletter, "Poetry Town," is also a welcome balm in these trying times.

And finally I'll mention Rattlecast—"meet a new poet every week as they talk life and share poems with Rattle's editor, Timothy Green" (see above)—available both as audio-only podcast and on YouTube. I've never listened to it—but I'm pretty sure I need to. Rattle also has a weekly critique and a "Poets Respond Open Mike," and possibly much more: it seems to be a poet's treasure trove. (My friend Dick Westheimer was featured on Rattlecast in April 2023. That episode is here, starting at about 12:30 in.)

Okay, I was going to share a poem, but I think that's plenty of poetic inspiration for now. Go find some poetry! It's all around!