PoemTalk at the Writers House

By Kelly Writers House

What's PoemTalk at the Writers House about?

PoemTalk at the Writers House, hosted by Al Filreis and based at Kelly Writers House in Philadelphia. PoemTalk is a collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing and Jacket2.org.

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PoemTalk at the Writers House episodes:

04.18.2024
Episode 195 - Also I don't suffer
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss "The Austrian Maiden" and "Joe Brainard's Painting Bingo" by Richard Padgett.
03.21.2024
Episode 194 - Hack my name
The PoemTalk team travels to Scotland for a discussion at the Fruitmarket Arts Center in Edinburgh on two poems by Veronica Forrest-Thomson.
02.16.2024
Episode 193 - The colors of death
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss Ariana Raines's "To the Reader," from A Sand Book (Tin House, 2019).
01.31.2024
Episode 192 - Of shredded love
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss two poems by Owen Dodson: "For Billie Holiday" and "Sorrow Is The Only Faithful One."
12.21.2023
Episode 191 - Fracas in the hinterlands
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss two Kenward Elmslie pieces, "Core Bonus" and "One Night Stand."
11.20.2023
Episode 190 - Watches don't shoot
The group gathers for a live session in the Kelly Writers House's Arts Cafe to discuss the eponymous piece from Aldon Nielson's book Tray (Make Now Press, 2017).
10.27.2023
Episode 189 - Humming in the vacancy
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss Gregory Corso's 1969 performance of "Vision of Rotterdam."
09.26.2023
Episode 188 - To the goon ictus
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss Ted Pearson's 1987 book-length poem, Catenary Odes.
08.28.2023
Episode 187 - Bray brassily
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss two "Love Poems" by Mina Loy, from a recording and interview with Paul Blackburn and Robert Von Dias in 1965.
07.28.2023
Episode 186 - The dots move out
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss a version of Tina Darragh's "Wire Boxes" performed at the Line Reading Series in New York in February of 2001.
06.28.2023
Episode 185 - Don't refuse to breathe
The team hits the road and lands in Los Angeles at the home of Marjorie Perloff, where the group gathers to discuss two well-known poems by Frank O'Hara: "Poem" or "Lana Turner Has Collapsed!" and "Song (Is it Dirty)."
05.22.2023
Episode 184 - The whole world smiles
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss John Giorno's 1977 poem, "Everyone is a complete disappointment."
04.12.2023
Episode 183 - Present plans succeed
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss an excerpt from Dodie Bellamy's Vomit Journal.
03.16.2023
Episode 182 - Woot of the century
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss two poems from Douglas Kearney's SHO (Wave Books, 2021): "Welter" and "Static."
02.23.2023
Episode 181 - Rhetorical happenings
The group gathers at the Writers House to discuss Hoa Nguyen's "Long Light," collected in Red Juice: Poems, 1998-2008 (Wave Books, 2014).
01.11.2023
Episode 180 - Nothing made of ink
The group travels to the Poetry Foundation in Chicago to discuss seven short poems from Lisa Fishman's Mad World, Mad Kings, Mad Composition (Wave Books, 2020).
12.20.2022
Episode 179 - Untranslatable
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss two poems by Armand Schwarner: "Tablet XXV" and "'daddy, can you staple these two stars together to make an airplane?'"
11.24.2022
Episode 178 - Downgraded to scribble
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss Matvei Yankelevich's book of poems (or book-length poem), Dead Winter (Fonograph, 2022).
10.30.2022
Episode 177 - Paw mouthings
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio to discuss two poems by Maggie O'Sullivan, "To our Own Day" and "Hill Figures," from In the House of the Shaman (Reality Street, 1993).
09.27.2022
Episode 176 - Touch, love, then explain
The group gathers at the Writers House's Wexler Studio for a fresh take on John Ashbery's iconic "Some Trees."
08.26.2022
Episode 175 - Composition of life, as life
The group travels to Bard College in the Hudson Valley to discuss the two opening paragraph's from Joan Retallack's essay "The Poethical Wager."
07.25.2022
Episode 174 - Girls in the supply chain
The group gathers at the Kelly Writers House to discuss four poems from Sawako Nakayasu's Some Girls Walk into the Country They Are From (Wave Books, 2020).
06.15.2022
Episode 173 - When a name falls from a face (Divya Victor, 'Curb')
In this episode, the group gathers to discuss a selection of poems from Divya Victor's book Curb (Nightboat Books, 2021): three poems from the titular "Curb" series in the middle of the book ("Curb" 3, 4, and 5) and another...
05.23.2022
Episode 172 - Trance of language (Harryette Mullen, 'Sleeping with the Dictionary' and 'Dim Lady')
In this episode, we talk about two prose poems in Harryette Mullen’s collection Sleeping with the Dictionary, published by California in 2002. The poems are “Dim Lady” and the title poem, “Sleeping with the Dictionary.”
04.21.2022
Episode 171 - Teach us love (Eugene Ostashevsky, 'Language' and 'The Anatomy of Monotony')
In this episode, our discussion takes us to the great Ostashevskyan topics — knowledge otherwise somehow alienated; language that embodies or transliterates a kind of violence; the (sound) differences between knowing and saying no (and similarities); his sincere (and doubtless...
03.14.2022
Episode 170 - Better to lose and win (Diane di Prima's 'Revolutionary Letters')
In this episode, the group discusses three poems from Diane di Prima's 'Revolutionary Letters' project: #16 (“We are eating up the planet”), #19 (“If what you want is jobs”), and #27 (“How much can we afford to lose before we...
02.11.2022
Episode 169 - Far in toward the far end (Two poems from George Quasha's “preverbs”)
Al Filreis convenes Charles Bernstein, Anthony Elms, and Laynie Browne to talk about two poems by George Quasha. The book, published by Spuyten Duyvil in 2020, titled Not Even Rabbits Go Down This Hole, consists of eight gatherings of preverbs;...
01.14.2022
Episode 168 - Hot and cold (Jayne Cortez, 'She Got He Got')
Today we are releasing episode #168 of PoemTalk, in which Amber Rose Johnson, Daniel Bergmann, and Yolanda Wisher meet up at the Kelly Writers House to talk with Al Filreis about Jayne Cortez's "She Got He Got". This poem/performance piece...
12.22.2021
Episode 167 - Must it ring true (Myung Mi Kim, 'And Sing We')
Today we are releasing episode #167 of PoemTalk, in which Jack Giesking, Jonathan Dick, and erica kaufman meet up at the Kelly Writers House to talk with Al Filreis about Myung Mi Kim's "And Sing We" from Under Flag.
11.24.2021
Episode 166 - Coup created by our thoughts
Today's episode dives into Cecilia Vicuña's 'Colliding and not colliding at the same time'. The performance begins as the audience, having been encouraged to ask questions about an art video that had just been screened, went momentarily silent. No questions...
10.18.2021
Episode 165 - Punch fascists
Today, we talk about a poem by Stephen Collis that appeared in his book, A History of the Theories of Rain, published by Talonbooks in Vancouver in 2021. The poem is titled “Yes I Do Want to Punch” — and...
09.27.2021
Episode 164 - As words label space
This episode discusses a three-page section of Leslie Scalapino’s “‘Can’t’ is ‘Night’” — the passage having been chosen by the poet for It’s Go in Horizontal: Selected Poems, 1974-2006. Close listening and close reading: surely some manner of these, both,...
08.26.2021
Episode 163 - Perilous bodies
This episode features a poem by Daphne Marlatt called “Steveston, B.C.” We were joined by Davy Knittle, Jane Robbins Mize, and Karis Shearer. The poem is in a sense — although not quite exactly — the title poem in a...
07.26.2021
Episode 162 - In my rotting place
This episode presents a remarkable — freewheeling, energetic, yet comprehensive — discussion of a remarkable artist, Tuli Kupferberg. We considered two works by Tuli: “Morning, Morning,” among the most famous songs performed by The Fugs; and one of Tuli’s spoken-word...
06.14.2021
Episode 161 - This unwitting monument
The group convenes over Zoom to discuss Sarah Dowling's Entering Sappho (Coach House, 2020).
05.14.2021
Episode 160 - Biologically speaking
The group convenes over Zoom to discuss two well-known sonnets of Edna St. Vincent Millay, "I Shall Forget You Presently" and "Love Is Not All." (Coach House, 2020).
02.24.2017
Episode 110 - To rearrange the world
Stephen Ratcliffe, Joanne Kyger and Julia Bloch join Al Filreis in Bolinas, California to discuss Philip Whalen's "Life at Bolinas. The Last of California".
02.02.2017
Episode 109 - I mean only means
Siobhan Phillips, Emily Harnett, and Joseph Massey join Al Filreis to discuss Kate Colby's "I Mean"
01.03.2017
Episode 108 - But too beautiful
Camara Brown, Edwin Torres, and Brooke O’Harra join Al Filreis to discuss Tracie Morris's "Slave Sho to Video aka Black but Beautiful"
12.06.2016
Episode 107 - It is time
Pierre Joris, Anna Strong, and Ariel Resnikoff join Al Filreis to discuss Paul Celan's "Corona."
11.15.2016
Episode 106 - Dear conflicted reader
Mark McMorris, Mel Nichols, and Rob Casper join Al Filreis to discuss C.D. Wright's "One Big Self."
10.17.2016
Episode 105 - No truths self-evident
Kristen Gallagher, Kerry Sherin Wright, and Joshua Schuster join Al Filreis to discuss Akilah Oliver's "Morning Constitutional."
09.13.2016
Episode 104 - Explode for small change
Yolanda Wisher, Charles Bernstein, and Patricia Spears Jones join Al Filreis to discuss Akilah Oliver's "Is You Is or Is You Ain't."
08.09.2016
Episode 103 - Swear it closed
Rachel Zolf, erica kaufman, and Eileen Myles join Al Filreis to discuss four poems by Simone White from "Of Being Dispersed."
07.12.2016
Episode 102 - Mind's not right
Lisa New, Rafael Campo, and Christina Davis join Al Filreis for a special PoemTalk recorded at Harvard University to discuss Robert Lowell's "Skunk Hour."
06.14.2016
Episode 101 - With what geometry
Simone White, Sophia Le Fraga, and Andrew Whiteman join Al Filreis to discuss Ed Dorn's "The Sundering U.P. Tracks."
05.17.2016
Episode 100 - PoemTalk Retrospective
Al Filreis and seven past PoemTalk guests convene for a special 90-minute celebration of PoemTalk's 100th episode: William Joe Harris, Tracie Morris, erica kaufman, Steve McLaughlin, Maria Damon, Charles Bernstein, and Herman Beavers.
04.12.2016
Episode 99 - The unabettable bleak
Julia Bloch, Joseph Massey, and Michelle Gil-Montero join Al Filreis to discuss four poems from William Bronk's book Finding Losses.
03.15.2016
Episode 98 - Weakness stalks in pride
Herman Beavers, Salamishah Tillet, and Chris Mustazza join Al Filreis to discuss James Weldon Johnson's "O Southland!"
02.17.2016
Episode 97 - Articulate beyond walls
Michael Kelleher, Daniel Bergmann, and Ron Silliman join Al Filreis for a discussion of three poems by Larry Eigner: "Again dawn," "A temporary language," and "Unyielding / rock."

What's PoemTalk at the Writers House about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

PoemTalk at the Writers House episodes:

Episode 195 - Also I don't suffer

Episode 194 - Hack my name

Episode 193 - The colors of death

Episode 192 - Of shredded love

Episode 191 - Fracas in the hinterlands

Episode 190 - Watches don't shoot

Episode 189 - Humming in the vacancy

Episode 188 - To the goon ictus

Episode 187 - Bray brassily

Episode 186 - The dots move out

Episode 185 - Don't refuse to breathe

Episode 184 - The whole world smiles

Episode 183 - Present plans succeed

Episode 182 - Woot of the century

Episode 181 - Rhetorical happenings

Episode 180 - Nothing made of ink

Episode 179 - Untranslatable

Episode 178 - Downgraded to scribble

Episode 177 - Paw mouthings

Episode 176 - Touch, love, then explain

Episode 175 - Composition of life, as life

Episode 174 - Girls in the supply chain

Episode 173 - When a name falls from a face (Divya Victor, 'Curb')

Episode 172 - Trance of language (Harryette Mullen, 'Sleeping with the Dictionary' and 'Dim Lady')

Episode 171 - Teach us love (Eugene Ostashevsky, 'Language' and 'The Anatomy of Monotony')

Episode 170 - Better to lose and win (Diane di Prima's 'Revolutionary Letters')

Episode 169 - Far in toward the far end (Two poems from George Quasha's “preverbs”)

Episode 168 - Hot and cold (Jayne Cortez, 'She Got He Got')

Episode 167 - Must it ring true (Myung Mi Kim, 'And Sing We')

Episode 166 - Coup created by our thoughts

Episode 165 - Punch fascists

Episode 164 - As words label space

Episode 163 - Perilous bodies

Episode 162 - In my rotting place

Episode 161 - This unwitting monument

Episode 160 - Biologically speaking

Episode 110 - To rearrange the world

Episode 109 - I mean only means

Episode 108 - But too beautiful

Episode 107 - It is time

Episode 106 - Dear conflicted reader

Episode 105 - No truths self-evident

Episode 104 - Explode for small change

Episode 103 - Swear it closed

Episode 102 - Mind's not right

Episode 101 - With what geometry

Episode 100 - PoemTalk Retrospective

Episode 99 - The unabettable bleak

Episode 98 - Weakness stalks in pride

Episode 97 - Articulate beyond walls