KRCB-FM: WordTemple

Toni Mirosevich joins host Katherine Hastings to talk about and read from her latest collection of poetry, The Takeaway Bin, which draws inspiration from Oblique Strategies, a card game invented by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. "Over one hundred worthwhile dilemmas" are printed on a pack of cards and offer a set of possibilities to apply "when a dilemma occurs in a working situation." Mirosevich presents poems that reply to various daily dilemmas, specific or obscure.

Also, John Olivares Espinoza reads from his collection, The Date Fruit Elegies, his first full-length collection of poetry after his two chapbooks,

Aluminum Times and Gardeners of Eden.

Paul Hoover presents from his new book Sonnet 56 published by Les Figues Press with an introduction by Ira Monk. The book mixes Love, Poetry and Shakespeare in a marvelous grab bag of form, wit and playfulness. Starting with Shakespeare’s sonnet 56 - Sweet love, renew thy force, be it not said / Thy edge should blunter be than appetite, - Hoover writes 56 poetic variations, turning Shakespeare’s sonnet into a series of new (and traditional) forms, including: "Villanelle," "Noun Plus Seven," "Limerick," "Blues," "Course Description," "Flarf," "Imagist," "Tanka," "Answering Machine," "Rilke," "Morse Code" and "Bad Writing." The result is tender portrayal of love and an excellent survey of the possibilities within contemporary poetry.

Melissa Stein is the author of Rough Honey, Winner of the APR/Honickman First Book Prize, selected and with an introduction by Mark Doty. Published by American Poetry Review with Copper Canyon Press, the poems in Rough Honey have been praised by Molly Peacock as "a miracle of a first collection." Major Jackson calls her language "seductively alert and textured enough to evoke rarely contemplated worlds." "Openness... of form, and of the receptive and longing body is Rough Honey's central subject..." (Doty)

"In the water, whales have become the dominant species/Without killing their own kind." WordTemple features English poet, playwright and actor Heathcote Williams reading his classic Whale Nation. Part poetry, part natural history and part ecologic statement with musical accompaniment, Whale Nation is a hymn to the beauty, intelligence and majesty of the largest mammal on earth.

The award-winning author of 17 books of poetry, anthologies, translations, stories and essays, Janine Canan presents her latest publication, Under the Azure - Poems of Francis Jammes. Not only are the translations gorgeous throughout, but Canan includes a forward by Jammes'' grandson, and an introduction that illuminates the life of Jammes, "poet of the Pyrenees."

"You don't read Francis Jammes, you breathe him, you inhale him - In Jammes' work, there is nothing but poetry and perfume - once you have abandoned yourself to him, you will think he is the only poet there is." - Andre Gide

Host Katherine Hastings also discusses works of Sylvia Plath.

WordTemple features Susan Browne, author of Buddha's Dogs, winner of the Four Way Books Intro Prize selected by Edward Hirsh, and Zephyr, Steel Toe Books. Also, poets Mary-Marcia Casoly, Jack Foley, Katherine Hastings and Melanie Moro-Huber present samples from their chapbooks that were published together as one book by Ahadada Press, Ahadada Reader 3.

In celebration of National Poetry Month, WordTemple host Katherine Hastings will play a wide selection of poetry and music on the April program, including the winner and runner-up of the Sonoma County High Schools 2011 Poetry Out Loud Championship, Phebe Hong (rt) from Santa Rosa High School and Joey Abrego from Montgomery High. Also featured in the program will be Elizabeth Bishop, Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Jennifer Sweeney, Stephen Vincent Benet, Wallace Stevens, David Bromige, Robert Duncan, Lynn Lonidier, Sonoma County poet Raphael Block and much, much more.

WordTemple goes a little bit Irish tonight, the night before St. Patrick's Day. Host Katherine Hastings airs recordings of two powerful short stories from James Joyce's Dubliners: "Eveline," read by Dearbla Molloy, and "A Little Cloud," read by Brendan Coyle. Joyce's poem, "O It Was Out by Donnycarney" is sung by the magnificent tenor Marc Heller . The show will also be sprinkled with some fine Irish-American music, thanks to Mick Moloney and Frank Patterson. Finally, Hastings will announce a poetry reading she will host at the Crossroads Irish-American Festival featuring Sonoma County poet laureate Gwynn O'Gara, Gillian Conoley and Kathleen Lynch. Sit back and enjoy great radio - stories, music and more - on WordTemple!

Bob Hicok, associate professor of English at Virginia Tech, is the author of six collections of poetry, including Animal Soul, which was a finalist for the National Books Critics Circle Award. Tonight he talks with Katherine Hastings about the sources of inspiration for the poems in his latest book, Words For Empty and Words For Full (Pittsburgh Press), including what is called "The Virginia Tech massacre;" John Hart, two-time winner of the Commonwealth Club Medal in California, discusses his late father, the poet, teacher and critical maverick Lawrence Hart; and Fred Ostrander, who developed his poetic skills in Lawrence Hart's circle, reads poems from his latest book, Petroglyphs, Blue Light Press.

Actor Patrick Stewart reads the four sonnets written by Antonio Vivaldi to correspond with his Four Seasons concertos; "Spring" and "Winter" will be read within those two concertos. Franz Wright reads from his latest collection, Wheeling Motel, with musical accompaniment. Santa Rosa poets Greg Randall and Toni Wilkes read from their latest chapbooks.

Internationally recognized for her gourndbreaking work, Judy Grahn is a lifetime artist, teacher and activist whose writing has been foundational to several social movements. As a poet and social theorist, her work has been widely published, distributed, anthologized, and translated. On this Word Temple program, Grahn performs some of her classic poems accompanied by singer, songwriter, musician Anne Carol Mitchell. Also included is a recitation of one of Grahn's poems by Ani DiFranco at Carnegie Hall. Later in the show, Howard Altmann talks with host Katherine Hastings about his latest collection of poems, In This House.