No Good Poetry

In this episode we talk about a recent article by Matthew Zapruder from the New York Times, "Understanding Poetry Is More Straightforward Than You Think," which gets us thinking about how schools teach poetry, what it means for poetry to be "obscure," poetic tradition, and whether there is value in making poetry straightforward. We do get kind of critical of the article, but hopefully we add to the discussion more than just bitch about the article.

Arthur Smith is back again to talk with us about Charles Bukowski and his time in New Orleans, The Outsider magazine, and LouJon Press.

Special guest Arthur Smith chats with us live from his home in the French Quarter about some poets who found Bohemia in New Orleans and hung out in some splendid and roomy barrooms while they were at it. In this episode we talk about Walt Whitman and Tenessee Williams.

Jeff Pagano and I continue our conversation on musical compositions based on poetry with pieces by Hindemith, Britten, Eliott Carter and Brulez inspired by the poetry of Rilke, Rimbaud, Hart Crane, and Rene Char.

Composer and pianist Jeff Pagano joins us to talk about musical compositions based on poetry. Mallarmé, Verlaine, and Bertrand's poetry all appear in this episode.

How does an audience interact with poetry? What's up with poetry readings? Can poets find ways to make poetry more interactive? We talk about all that and look at some techniques poets have used to get close and personal with their audience.

This week we take a look at book-length poems and talk about some of our favorites. Be sure to checkout the reading list in the shownotes, so you can find a book-length poem to read this summer.

This week we are joined by composer Jeff Pagano as we take a little trip to 1940s Australia for a bit of poetry history. I don't want to give away too much if it's a story you haven't heard before, but you will hear some amazing poetry along the way and there will be some surprises too.