Licensed Poetics

By Fung-Ling and Derek

Licensed Poetics is a podcast where two aspiring writers, B Fung Ling and Derek Dao, talk about books. Every fortnight, they sit down and get (overly) critical and excited about fiction, non-fiction, ... more

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FAQs about Licensed Poetics:

How many episodes does Licensed Poetics have?

The podcast currently has 38 episodes available.

Licensed Poetics episodes:

March 31, 2024 8. ROI: Return On Imagination ft. Yurui Zi
Achim triumphantly returns from holiday and brings with him a 17yo LinkedIn celebrity and entrepreneur prodigy who loves reading, Yurui Zi. He then drops his take on The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K, while BFL disagrees (yet again) with Goodreads reviewers on Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Yurui bravely states his preference for non-fiction over fiction in the same room as Achim and BFL who are both avid fiction readers. Before the conversation turns into a fistfight, they find some common ground talking about Dune, stoicism, and high school English classes.
Follow us on Instagram @licensedpoetics
Books mentioned
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Eric Jorgenson
On Women by Susan Sontag
More To That by Lawrence Yeo (blog)
Dune by Frank Herbert
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:00 Yurui intro
02:05 Achim reading update
10:25 BFL reading update
19:05 Yurui prefers non-fiction
29:47 Dune
37:05 Marcus Aurelius and stoicism
39:30 How Yurui got into business
44:20 High school English
51:05 Bloopers

yuruizi.com
...more
52min
March 17, 2024 7. BetterHelp Should Have Sponsored This Episode ft. Derek Dao
BFL chats with Licensed Poetics Dear Friend Derek Dao about reading, writing, screenwriting, and if BFL needs therapy. How are TV scenes created? Why does movie-style writing NOT work for novels? When will Derek sell his million dollar story idea about being stuck in an endless tunnel? Listen and find out.
Find Derek
https://judeandpeter.substack.com/
Follow us on Instagram @licensedpoetics
Chapters
00:00 Music
00:46 Derek intro
03:06 BFL reading update
13:15 Derek reading update
24:41 What Derek and BFL write
32:28 Sad writers
34:08 Derek story pitch
43:29 Favourite screen tropes
47:25 What TV or movie would you make
Works mentioned
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Derry Girls by Lisa McGee (TV)
Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Van der Meer
HP Lovecraft
Annihilation by Alex Garland (Film)
True Detective (TV)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto
The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan (Film)
BoJack Horseman (TV)
Community by Dan Harmon (TV)
Rick and Morty (TV)
Solar Opposites (TV)
Black Mirror (TV)
Ghost-Birds by Nicolas Pizzolatto
Sex Education (TV)
Twin Peak (TV)
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
...more
56min
March 03, 2024 6. Listening to Explicit Audiobooks While Driving ft. Anya Vallentin and Emily James
In this book-ish and film-ish episode, BFL chats with Emily and Anya, both wonderful writers and filmmakers, about Poor Things starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo, boring Hemingway, alienated poetry, and incredibly explicit audiobook adventures. The guests then share how they got started with filmmaking, before discussing the statement - the book is always better.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:36 How BFL met the guests
01:58 BFL reading update
04:07 Emily reading update
13:49 Anya reading update
27:03 Guest bios
28:25 Anya’s recent project
34:11 Emily’s recent project
39:39 How did you get started in filmmaking?
50:00 Film adaptations of books

Works mentioned
Poetry by Czeslaw Milosz
Poor Things by Alasdair Gray
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Death in the Afternoon By Ernest Hemingway
A Farewell to Arms By Ernest Hemingway
The Old Man and the Sea By Ernest Hemingway
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Arrival by Denis Villeneuve
The Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
The Shawshank Redemption by Frank Darabont
Blade Runner by Ridley Scott
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Harry Potter movies
Fantastic Mr. Fox by Wes Anderson
Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Follow @licensedpoetics on Instagram!

@chatty_emily
https://emilyjames966116931.wordpress.com/
Find Anya
Instagram @lasagnevallentin
Find BFL
Instagram @bflwriter
https://bflwriter.blogspot.com/
...more
59min
February 18, 2024 5. This Guest Made Achim Cry? ft. Rachael Williams
As Achim and BFL set off on the perilous journey of comparing themselves to prodigy writers, the wonderful guest Rachael fangirls over her favourite slam poet. Then, Rach drops her iconic performance of her slam poetry piece, ‘Poem for the boys’. To no one’s surprise, Achim got emotional. Things got messy.

Chapters
00:00 Music
00:25 Introducing Rachael
01:28 Achim update
13:20 BFL update
23:17 Rachael update
27:50 Section II start
33:15 Content warning
33:30 ‘Poem for the boys’ performance

Books Mentioned
The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei
Penn & Teller: Fool Us (TV show)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Less Than Zero by Brett Easton Ellis
Life of the Party by Olivia Gatwood
New American Best Friend by Olivia Gatwood

Insta - @2000slovepoetry
...more
46min
February 04, 2024 4. The First Ever Alliteration: Goo-Goo-Ga-Ga ft. Marlene Baquiran
'Any type of conversation is a great vehicle for change.'
In this episode, we are joined by writer Marlene Baquiran. Following some devastating and hilarious book reviews, we explore how a well-crafted opening hook prevents the reader from putting down a piece of writing. Marlene, Achim, and BFL each draw from their own writing and editing experience. Finally, how do we effect change and become more empathetic as a writer? Marlene also shows her stand.
---Chapters---
00:00 Intro
00:59 Reading updates
02:15 Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
03:59 The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich
11:00 Mythos by Stephen Fry
26:14 Introducing Marlene
26:44 Literary hooks
39:58 Midnight Children by Salman Rushdie
44:00 How does writing instigate change
49:31 How to channel empathy in writing
51:03 How to reconcile conflicting identities
---Find Marlene---
Instagram: @climatewriters
Substack: https://marlenejo.substack.com
...more
54min
January 21, 20243. 2023 Reading Wrapped! Life-changing Books & Insufferable Books! ft. Cady
Revealing our most adored, hated, and traumatising books of the year! We went through a thorough list of fantastical, socialist and ArCadyan books with unsolicited but highly personal and emotional verdicts! What’s your favourite read in 2023? Do you have any objections to our reviews?? Let us know in the comments!
---Timestamps---
00:00 Introducing Cady
02:17 How many books did you read/DNF this year
10:27 How many Chinese books did you read
13:52 Which country did you read from the most (Author’s country of origin)
19:22 What is your most/ least read Genre!
23:23 What is the longest/ shortest book you read
28:15 What is your most read decade (ranked by date first published)
32:06 Personal questions:
Cady - How many environment/agriculture books did you read?

Achim - How many fantasy/mythology books did you read?

BFL - How many socialism related books did you read?
36:36 Favourite Book of the Year
54:51 Least Favourite Book of the Year
1:04:34 Reading goals for 2024
---Books Mentioned---
Achim:
The Prophet
Tender is the Flesh
Labrinths
The Lady of the Lake (The Witcher Book 7)
Murder of the Alphabets
Live by Night
Cady: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/162932073
BFL:
China in Ten Words by Yu Hua
Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
Simple Passion by Annie Erneaux
White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Yellowface by RF Kuang
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
On The Road by Jack Kerouac
...more
1h 10min
January 07, 2024 2. In Empathy We are Luu-minescent ft. Annabella Luu and Antoinette Luu
'I want to write a poem for her because I feel like she deserves it.'
In this episode, we are joined by our guest features Annabella & Antoinette Luu, resonating with their intimate and captivating perspectives of being a storyteller and their empathy for people they hold close. We transform the recording studio into a contemplative chamber on what it means to be a writer and what makes it beautiful.
---Chapters---
00:00 Intro
00:50 Recent reads
28:00 Conversation with Annabella& Antoinette
32:05 On Narratives of writing
39:00 On Fantasy and Mythology
41:02 On being a Writer as a way of living
---Books mentioned---
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li
Past lives (Film)
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot
---Guests---
Find Bella: bellaluu_art
Find Annette: annette_luu_art
...more
46min
December 24, 2023 1. Chasing the Niu-est Waves ft. Stephanie Niu
'I wonder how my body knows what it feels like to fly - I think it’s because of swimming.'

In the very first episode of Licensed Poetics, hosts Fung-Ling and Achim dive into a sea of captivating quotes and engaging conversations, joined by our guest feature Stephanie Niu. We even discover a mystifying connection between Steph and Achim?! Steph then expands her dreamscape by reading one of her latest pieces that hasn’t been shared before.

---Sections---
00:00 Intro
00:40 Reading Updates
17:59 Conversation with Stephanie Niu
31:23 Stephanie Niu reads poem 'Dalian'

Books Mentioned
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
Outline by Rachel Cusk
Poetry Unbound by Padraig O Tuama
Lost Lake By Bella Li
'Oracle for the End of World' by Stephanie Niu
'Furrows at Fallow Field' by Stephanie Niu
'From Blossoms' by Li-Young Lee
'Golden State': Gold shovel after Li-Young Lee by Stephanie Niu
Bluest Nude by Ama Codjoe
The Black Mariah by Aracelis Girmay
Blueprint by Ama Codjoe
Find Steph
Stephanie Niu
Instagram

...more
39min

FAQs about Licensed Poetics:

How many episodes does Licensed Poetics have?

The podcast currently has 38 episodes available.